STOUGHTON QUARTET SCORES AN EAGLE! Last Thursday night, four Eagle Scouts were honored during a Presentation Ceremony by the Rising Star Lodge of Stoughton. The young men - Stephen Zorn, Adam Lurie, and Nolan Fraine from Troop 516 and Nick Selby from Troop 88 - were honored with citations and their mothers received a Sebastian statue. It was a fantastic night for the families, featuring a nice chicken dinner catered by the members of Rising Star Lodge. It was followed by the public presentation of the awards attended by many of the troop scouts and their families. The evening’s Master of …

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES: The Stoughton Council on Aging & Youth Commission recently hosted the Mass Memories Road Show, Sunday May 5.    With the help of over 35 volunteers, over 350 images have been digitized and labeled for future generations to view and explore.  These images, both photos and videos, were scanned or taped on Sunday to record who makes up the Town of Stoughton on this day in history.  Many personal stories and experiences were captured, including 48 video stories.  About 150 people attended the well-publicized event. Over the course of that Sunday, people had the chance to …

POSTHUMOUS HONORS AND A FUNDRAISER FOR JAKE HOFFMAN: Stoughton’s Jake Hoffman would have graduated college on May 10, 2013, with a degree from the Isenberg School’s Department of Tourism Management at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. To the continuing sorrow of his family, friends, and everyone who ever met him, he was tragically killed in an off-campus apartment fire in Amherst on Jan. 21, at the age of 21.  In a wonderful gesture by his University, his parents - Anne and Dave Hoffman - received his degree at the Isenberg School of Management Senior Celebration on Saturday morning…

TORNADO IN STOUGHTON? Did a tornado hit Stoughton late Thursday afternoon? Yes, says the National Weather Service, who conducted a storm survey Friday morning.  What appeared to be a funnel cloud came down at the Bay State Pre-Owned Ford dealership at 1776 Washington St. on Route 138 around 4:45 p.m on Thursday, May 9, causing damage to several vehicles in the lot, destroying a bay garage door, and lifting a part of the roof. Stoughton firefighter Scott Mellyn said that the funnel cloud was visible from their Freeman Street station in the downtown.  The Stoughton Police Department came to the…

STOUGHTON WOMAN IS A FIT BEAUTY! Stoughton's Bela Santos was pleasantly surprised with her third place win in WBFF (World Beauty & Fitness Federation) Masters Fitness Diva round, which took place April 13 at the Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford, CT. She tells About Town, "It was my first time competing in this organization next to so many amazingly beautiful and fit women. It was a shock! I'm hoping to come back with a better package and get my BIG WIN in June at the WBFF Boston Championship!"  Santos runs BelaBody Fitness here in Stoughton.  About Town did a rare Q&A. Here's the scoop from …

THE ACTIONS OF A FEW SPOIL IT FOR THE REST: Halloran Park at the corner of Pierce and Leach Streets is a jewel in Stoughton. It has a "track" that has families walking in strollers, dog walkers (who can get a complimentary bag for cleanups there), joggers, and other assorted adults - young and old - who utilize the park every day.  A few times a year, Grace Church shows films there, and has fun fairs for the kids. There's also a basketball court. Groups of young people play there regularly.  Most people pick up after their dogs, and most pick up after their own messes.  But, recently, there …

STOUGHTON NATIVE PRODUCES HOLLYWOOD FILM: Frederick Levy, a Stoughton native and 1988 graduate of Stoughton High, now lives in Los Angeles. He is the founder of Management 101, where he guides the careers of actors, writers and directors, and also develops and produces feature films and television programs. He has written a number of books, including the best-sellers "Hollywood 101--The Film Industry: How to Succeed in Hollywood Without Connections" and "Short Films 101: How To Make a Short Film and Launch Your Filmmaking Career."     He was the Associate Producer of "Frailty," starring …

SEWER COMING TO SOUTH STOUGHTON? The town's efforts to put sewerage on Park Street towards the Brockton line doesn't look good. A capacity crowd filled Town Hall on Monday night (4/29) and not one person voiced support for the project.  Article 57 in this year's Town Meeting warrant requests funding for the design of sewers for the southern end of Park Street from Fano Dr. (just past Ash St.) to the Brockton line as well as the Campanelli Parkway industrial area off Turnpike St. This same request was turned down at last year's Town Meeting. Town Engineer Ben Fehan and Engineer Mark Thompson …

STOUGHTON'S SAT SCORES RANKED IN BOTTOM 10 PERCENT OF REGION: The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released the combined SAT scores of all of the 351 Towns and Cities in Massachusetts. According to a chart put together by the Boston Globe comparing SAT scores and home values south of Boston, of the 48 schools in our regional area, Stoughton High students finished 43rd, with a combined score of 1417. Sharon was first with a 1775. The only places with lower scores than Stoughton were Avon (1304), Brockton (1289), Randolph (1309), Holbrook (1292), and Wareham (1375). Other …

It's Elementary! 5 School/5K Fun Run! Let's get ready to RUN! The third annual It’s Elementary! 5 School 5K & Fun Run will be on Saturday, April 27, 2013, at the Old Colony YMCA in Stoughton (445 Central St.).  Created in a spirit of cooperation and community by the five Stoughton elementary school PTOs/PTAs, It’s Elementary! successfully promotes the ideals of friendly competition, personal bests, healthy choices, and teamwork – all in support of elementary education. For the past two years they have had over 200 registered runners, coming from southeastern Massachusetts and beyond. What …

REMEMBERING MIKE SWALLOW: He wasn't tall, but still, he was big on the football field. I first watched Mike Swallow, and his twin brother Ricky, when they played against my son in STOYAC's Mitey Mites program at age six. You could tell they were both great athletes, even at that age.  My son played quarterback throughout his STOYAC Raider years, and through his senior season for the Black Knights football team at Stoughton High.  Through many of those years, he handed off the ball to one of the Swallow brothers.  And, more often than not, the short, but powerful, brothers would smash through …

SPARRING WITH A TERRORIST: Stoughton's Gold Gloves boxer Sean Bettencourt told About Town that he had been in the same ring as the late accused Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev.  Tsarnaev, 26, died early Friday morning after a shootout with police. His younger brother, Dzhokhar, 19, was taken into custody Friday evening after a lengthy search for his whereabouts.  Tamerlan was previously a Golden Gloves boxer, according to the Boston Herald.  Bettencourt, who is now fighting as a professional with a winning record, told About Town exclusively that "We just sparred and I dropped him …

LENNY CLARKE COMING TO STOUGHTON: Legendary comedian Lenny Clarke was scheduled to have a show here in Stoughton Friday night, April 19. But, due to the events that transpired that day, with the search for the second suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing, the show has been rescheduled.  Clarke will now be coming to Stoughton Saturday, May 11.  You know Clarke from "Rescue Me", "The Chelsea Handler Show", and, or course, his many appearances on PMPNetwork.com.  He'll be doing the show at VFW Post 1645, 837 Washington Street in Stoughton Center. Doors Open at 8 p.m. Show time is 9 p.m. Tickets…

BLOOD DRIVE FOR ANNE! There will be an Anne Havlin Memorial Blood and Food Drive to benefit the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and St. Anthony’s Free Market Food Pantry in Stoughton. The event will be held Saturday, April 20 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Immaculate Conception Church Parish, 122 Canton St., Stoughton.  The following event has been postponed. Please click here for more details.  Anne was the Director of the St. Anthony’s Free Market, a food pantry located inside the religious education department of Immaculate Conception Church. She passed away in …

GREAT NEWS FROM THE SCHOOLS: Timothy Norton, an engineering and robotics teacher at Stoughton High School, tells About Town that one of the programs that he runs at Stoughton High called, "Construction Challenge." has done something fantastic!  He writes, "A couple weeks back, one of our teams placed second in the state [at the Destination Imagination Competition at WPI] and qualified to represent the state and compete against 47 other states and 14 different countries in the Destination Imagination Global Finals in Knoxville, Tennessee May 21-26."  The students who achieved this amazing feat…

GIBBONS SALUTE TO THE MILITARY GOES OVER BIG! The Gibbons Elementary School Annual Fair, which was held last Saturday, April 6, was a huge success! When David "Spanky" Sousa decides to do a school fair, he does a school fair, and this one had a patriotic theme honoring our local police and fire departments and military. The Fair turned out to be a lot of fun for all ages.  DJ Gil 33 Valadao played patriotic music outside all day with a grand salute to the Flag at close of the Fair.   The pie eating contest was very competitive, Army vs. the Navy and Mr. Cancellieri vs. Spanky (we won’t …

STOUGHTON'S GOT TALENT: The Stoughton High Music Department, in collaboration with Parents of Performing Students (POPS), is sponsoring its first "Stoughton's Got Talent" talent show on Friday, April 12, at 7 p.m. in the Stoughton High auditorium. There are 22 finalist acts that will be battling for cash! There are cash awards for the top three contestants in two divisions (7th Grade and Under and 8th Grade and Up) - $150 for 1st place, $100 for 2nd place and $75 for 3rd place. Finalists include (grades 8-12): rap/acapella group Deonte Dumas and Ryan Gigarjian; singer-guitarist Angel Camilo; …

HELP WANTED: Town Moderator Howard Hansen had never seen it this bad. Literally, EVERY precinct didn't have enough people on the April 30th Town Election ballot to fill up Town Meeting. In fact, in Precincts 7 & 8 alone, there are 17 slots on the ballot and just one candidate...combined!  Hansen had run a recruiting meeting at the Council on Aging back in January, which followed a very busy Master Plan meeting, but very few new faces were in the crowd. So, Hansen decided to take another shot. Monday night, at the Stoughton High School Media Center, he held another meeting to try to recruit …

STOUGHTON PRAYS FOR REV. JEAN LENK: Rev. Jean Lenk was leading a very busy life, like most of us.  The spiritual leader of the First Congregational Church of Stoughton on Pierce Street. for the last eight years, she is also a mother of four, wife to her husband Peter, and caretaker of her 92-year-old father, who lives with them.    She was preparing for Holy Week, the most solemn week of the church year. Ironically, she got life-altering news on Good Friday. The 59-year-old Lenk told About Town that she wished to share the news that turned her life upside down, and the faith that she has that…

LENNY CLARKE COMING TO STOUGHTON: Yes, that's right, legendary comedian Lenny Clarke will be coming soon to our town. You know him from "Rescue Me", "The Chelsea Handler Show", and, or course, his many appearances on PMPNetwork.com.  He'll be coming to VFW Post 1645, 837 Washington Street in Stoughton Center on Friday, April 19. Doors Open at 8 p.m. Show time is 9 p.m. Tickets are $30 each. (Table of 10 for $300.)   The Comedy Night is being hosted by Joe Finn, and will also feature Christine Hurley and Jack Walsh.  Finn is a recently retired police officer who has been doing and promoting …