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 …

ANOTHER PART OF DOWNTOWN FOR SALE: Last week, About Town wrote about the restoration of the Pacheco Building, also known as Oddfellow’s Hall, a historic building in downtown Stoughton, located next to the FirstParish Universalist Church. This week, we write about another building - this one located directly across from the Stoughton Train Station. It’s the long closed up NAPA Auto Parts store, which is an eyesore on very visible Wyman Street.   The good news is that the building, which for the past decade has been used as a storage facility for All Care Home Health Services, is now for sale…

STOUGHTON POLICE CHIEF: MY DAUGHTER, THE DOCTOR! Stoughton Police Chief Paul Shastany is mighty proud of all three of his daughters. His oldest, Amanda, is a successful mortgage broker.  His youngest, Heather, is a registered dietitian and nutritionist.  But, Shastany's middle child will soon officially be a doctor!    Lauren Shastany studied audiology at Northeastern University (where she was the recipient of one of the two most prestigious scholarships there, the Henry Warren 1/2 Tuition Scholarship). Lauren also received an Academic Excellence Scholarship at Northeastern, saving dad some …

STOUGHTON LANDSCAPER ATTAINS HIGHEST CERTIFICATION: William Provost of Provost Landscape & Construction in Stoughton has attained the highest level of certification in the landscape profession within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  Provost has taken and passed the Massachusetts Certified Landscape Professional examination given on March 11, 2013.  He tells About Town,  "In my personal opinion, it helps set myself apart from the rest of the landscapers out there." This designation was established by The Massachusetts Association of Landscape Professionals and tests candidates on their …

HISTORIC PACHECO BUILDING GETS MAKEOVER: The historic Pacheco Hardware building has sat nearly vacant in downtown Stoughton for a couple of years. Although parts of it have been rented, it was not being maintained as it once was when it was the thriving home of Pacheco Hardware, and a number of smaller businesses that rented within.   But, that is about to change. Walter Parshley of We Realty Group LLC has relocated his business to the former Pacheco building.   Parshley is in his 50th year in the Stoughton real estate business. He started in 1963 at age 18. He, his wife and son, and a group …

I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO A PASSOVER BRUNCH! OK. I admit it. I'm no a matzoh kind of guy. Passover, which does have great meaning to the Jewish people, never thrilled me. While everyone else at school was eating peanut butter and jelly in Wonder Bread, I had these dried out large tasteless crackers with peanut butter and jelly.   But, I've grown up some! Eight years ago I went to a Passover Jazz Brunch and REALLY enjoyed it. The delicious eggs they managed to weave with the matzoh helped, and so did the abundance of other delicious foods, and the music!  I've discovered since then that music and…

STOUGHTON ACTRESS IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Stoughton resident Dale F. Appel, who just celebrated a birthday a couple of days ago, has been cast by Theatre One Productions in four out of 15 short new plays they are presenting this coming weekend. Appel, a former camera person for the legendary Snyder's Stoughton TV Show, has been acting on stage and in film for many years.  She is a member of SAG-AFTRA and a supporting actress in the short films "A Manor of Speaking", "Cooking in Salem", and "Haunted in Depth!" Dale has worked on many films, TV pilots, commercials and live theatre - both scripted and…

PANEL DISCUSSION ON FREE SPEECH: Ahavath Torah Congregation in Stoughton continues its Irwin M. and H. Ethel Hausman Memorial Free Speech Speakers' Series with a panel discussion on Wednesday, March 20, 2013 at 7 p.m. The topic will be "Shariah's Assault on Free Speech: Warriors Who Refuse to be Silenced”.  Shariah is the code of law derived from the Koran and from the teachings and example of Mohammed.  The event will take place at Ahavath Torah Congregation, 1179 Central Street in Stoughton.  Admission is $15 per person in advance, $20 at the door; $10 for students with valid student ID. …

RUNNING FOR THE EYE AND EAR:  Stoughton's own Stu Weiner will be running the 2013 Boston Marathon as part of Team Eye and Ear. His fundraising goal for this year is $6,000, and all funds will go to the Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary.  Stu writes, "Last year, thanks to the generosity of many, I was able to raise almost $6,900 to help support patients who need services to support the basic sensory functions such as hearing and sight that we often take for granted." He continues, "I am excited to be back with the team and running 26.2 miles for a great organization such as Mass Eye and Ear and hope …

CANDIDATES FORUM: You can be an educated voter!  The date of the election may have been changed, but the date for the annual Candidates Night for our local town election remains the same.  The Sharon/Stoughton League of Women Voters and the Stoughton Chamber of Commerce will host a Candidate's Night on Monday, March 18, starting at 6:30 p.m. The forum will be held in the Great Hall on the third floor of Town Hall.  Refreshments will be served.  There is no charge to attend. All town-wide candidates have been invited to give a statement.  The only contested race, for two seats on the School …

LORI MCKENNA RELEASING NEW Album: Stoughton's own singer-songwriter, nationally-acclaimed Lori McKenna, is releasing her six full-length album, "Massachusetts," officially on April 23.   It will kick off with two pre-release shows at Club Passim in Cambridge, on April 4th and 5th.  Both nights will have two shows - at 7 and 9:30. Cost is $35 at the door.   McKenna, who received national recognition when she penned "Fireflies" and a couple of other songs for Faith Hill (which sold over a million copies and landed at #1), was also featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show (when people watched it on …

STOUGHTON MAY CHANGE DATE OF TOWN ELECTION: Town Clerk Cheryl Mooney has discussed moving the date of the Stoughton town election to coincide with the special primary for the U.S. Senate seat previously held by current U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (Mo Cowan, of Stoughton, is holding the seat in the interim).   The town election is currently scheduled for Tuesday, April 9, 2013. Under Mooney's plan, it would be moved to Tuesday, April 30, the same date as the special primary election for the U.S. Senate. Mooney said her plan could save the town some money, and would not interfere with …

STOUGHTON'S PARIS CABARET PRESENTS THE MUSIC MAN: In a celebration of Family Classic Americana, The Paris Cabaret/Starline Room Dinner Theatre on Monk St. in Stoughton will present THE MUSIC MAN.  In a limited engagement of 10 shows, The Music Man will star Gary Poholek of North Attleboro as Professor Harold Hill, Lauren Saracino of Stoughton as Marian Paroo, Brian Kenerson of Middleboro as Marcellus, Colleen McDonough of Stoughton as Mrs. Paroo, Jen Sterling of Brockton as Eulalie Shinn, and James D'Amico of Canton as Mayor Shinn.  The show opens Saturday, March 9, at 6:30 p.m. with …

OPERATION KIDSAFE A HUGE SUCCESS: Kiddie Academy of Stoughton held a Child Safety fair on Saturday, March 2, and dozens of families came by to enjoy the festivities.  Operation KidSafe took photos and fingerprints of the children using a sophisticated video capture device. Each parent was given a quality 8.5 x 11 printout which can instantly aid the police in case of an emergency. Kiddie Academy, which is located at 1204 Washington St., had a number of activities and vendors on hand Saturday, in addition to the KidSafe station.  The Stoughton Police and Fire Department were on hand, with …

A ROAST WELL DONE: The Stoughton Chamber of Commerce roasted Stoughton real estate legend Fred Yaitanes this past Saturday night at the Portuguese National Club. Fred, along with his lovely bride Nadine Israel, owns the Fred & Nadine Realtor Team of Stoughton, which runs out of the Keller Williams in Easton.  Unfortunately, Nadine is recovering from back surgery and was unable to make the event. But, a number of roasters stepped to the podium to gently scorch the Stoughton Chamber and SOLA Board member.  I had the honor of serving as the emcee for this roast, and began the evening with this …

OPERATION KIDSAFE: A free child safety event will be held at Kiddie Academy of Stoughton, 1202 Washington Street, on Saturday, March 2, 2013, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  Operation KidSafe captures your child’s photo and fingerprints using a digital ink-less video capture device, and specialized software.   The captured data is then assembled and a quality 8.5 x 11” printout is given to the parent. The printout can be used to give law enforcement anywhere in the world information to INSTANTLY aid in an investigation.   It should be noted that no database or records of children are maintained. The …

FINALLY, DOWNTOWN BUILDING GETTING REBUILT: After years as a public eyesore, the former home of Cheng Du on Washington St. in downtown Stoughton, owned by the Parsons family of Malcolm and Parsons, will soon be rebuilt.   The building first suffered a fire a few years ago back in October of 2009, and then the roof collapsed under snow the following winter, in January of 2011. The roof collapse also caused damage to the adjacent building and put a Stoughton restaurant, Kabob House, out of business. That building, which also houses Olivio's, has since been repaired and Chicken Kebab recently …

PIRES GETS LIONS CLUB'S HIGHEST AWARD: On Saturday, Feb. 23, the Lions Clubs for the Massachusetts District known as 33K held its mid-winter conference at the Hilton Hotel in Dedham. There are 47 Lion Clubs that belong to this district. During the dinner meeting, various awards were presented. The club members choose their members for the various awards.  John Pires of the Stoughton Lions Club was awarded the Lions' highest award, the Melvin Jones Fellowship Award.  The Melvin Jones Fellowship is named for the founder of the Lions Clubs International. Melvin Jones founded the Lions in 1917.  …

REAL ESTATE ROAST ROSTER:  The Stoughton Chamber of Commerce is roasting another "victim" on Saturday, March 2.  After previous roasts of Terry Schneider, Francis T. Crimmins, Jr. and Mike Sammarco, this year's "roastee" is Stoughton real estate legend Fred Yaitanes.   Fred, along with his lovely bride Nadine Israel, owns the Fred & Nadine Realtor Team of Stoughton, which runs out of the Keller Williams Office in Easton. Fred is an active member of the Food Pantry Foundation of Stoughton, and recently directed a murder mystery at Town Hall that raised over $3,000 for SOLA (Support Our Library…

THE LITTLE MERMAID SWIMMING TO SHUL: The Little Theatre of Stoughton will present the Little Mermaid, a Disney production.  Funded, in part, by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, it will take place at Ahavath Torah Congregation, 1179 Central Street in Stoughton.  Production dates are  Thursday, Feb. 21 and Saturday, Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 24 at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Seating is limited. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students/seniors and are on sale through cast members and on the Little Theatre's website, littletheatreofstoughton.org. There is a cast of 38 young people …