By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

Hingham officials voted Thursday night to move forward with the acquisition of the town’s water system from Aquarion Water Co.

The vote goes along with a similar one taken by the town's Water Acquisition Study Committee on Tuesday. The committee has spent over a year analyzing the pros and cons of the town's purchasing and operating the system, and concluded this week that town ownership would save ratepayers money.

“We’ve come out with savings construction in the $1 million to $1.5 million a year range, that through the remaining life of the water treatment lease, would produce savings of $70 [million] to $90 million cumulatively,” said John Asher, a member of the Water Study Committee and former member of the Advisory Board.

Though the derived cost for the system or the process to get that cost have not been disclosed, selectmen agreed with the committee on Thursday, saying they would try to negotiate a purchase price with the private company.

Selectman Chairman Bruce Rabuffo said he has already gone to the company with a number, and is waiting for a counteroffer.

“Discussions have been very businesslike,” Rabuffo said.

While negotiations are ongoing, the town has not ruled out the possibility of litigation. Selectmen haven’t said what might trigger litigation, but have prepared legal strategies if Aquarion won’t cooperate in selling.

Aquarion officials have agreed that the town has a right to purchase the water assets, but have stood by the $184 million price tag for the system announced in 2012.

Recent decisions to move forward with a sale, without a public discussion of price, has been disheartening, said John P. Walsh, vice president of Massachusetts and New Hampshire operations for Aquarion.

“It’s disappointing,” he said. “Like the residents we heard from last night, we’re also frustrated that the committee is not sharing information for us to evaluate. As I mentioned, this is in stark contrast to how we’ve handled this.”

Walsh said the company has provided the town with a wealth of information on the system and the valuation of the company.

Rabuffo disputed that assertion, saying Aquarion was still withholding key pieces of information on what it paid for the system.

Furthermore, Rabuffo said that while information hasn’t been shared publicly, that Walsh and other top Aquarion executives do have the cost model the town is using.
The timeline for next steps is still unclear, but regardless of where the issue ends up, Town Meeting would have to approve any purchase officials intend.

The move would put Hingham, Hull, and Cohasset’s water under Hingham’s control.

According to Hingham Town Administrator Ted Alexiades, all three towns would pay for the purchase and operation of the system through their rates. The operation of the system would most likely be run through an inter-municipal agreement between all the towns, Alexiades said.

“We’ve kept the town managers up to date on our work, and we’ve met with them to talk about how we would structure this from a government standpoint,” Alexiades said. “They have given us strong statements that they are anxious and willing to work with us, and they do…feel it would be financially beneficial to their communities.”

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

Hingham selectmen plan to vote tonight on whether to purchase the local assets from Aquarion Water Co.

The vote comes with the blessing of Hingham's Water Company Acquisition Study Committee, which recommended on Tuesday that the town purchase the assets for an undisclosed amount.

“Based on our analysis of the proper price to be paid, we believe acquiring the water company will save the public more than $70 million over 20 years,” said Jonathan Asher, chairman of the committee. “After the payoff of a 20-year bond to subsidize the purchase, the savings will be on the order of $8 million a year.”

According to Town Administrator Ted Alexiades, selectmen will vote on one of three options: not to acquire the assets -- which provide water to Hingham, Hull, and parts of Cohasset; to acquire the assets under litigation; or to negotiate a purchase price with Aquarion.

If acquired, Hingham would issues bonds to finance the purchase, then pay off that debt within residents’ rates.

“The Acquisition Committee looked at three aspects in consideration for whether the town should acquire Aquarion or not. They looked at the financial, capital, and the governance model … They made it clear at their meeting on Tuesday it was a red light green light across the board,” Alexiades said.

The direction of the committee comes as a surprise to Aquarion officials, who said that though they have had a collaborative relationship with the town, they have been cut out of the process since December.

“Probably what we’re more surprised by is given how we’re working collaboratively with the town over the last year that, in the end, very little information is being shared by the committee with the residents of Hingham,” said John Walsh, Vice President of Massachusetts and New Hampshire Operations for Aquarion. “… That’s in contrast to what we’ve done. We’ve provided the town with not only the price for the water system but with a report with how we calculated that price.”

According to Walsh, under the charter formula, the price for the entire water system is $184 million.

Regardless of a potential purchase, Walsh said Aquarion is committed to working with the town.

“We’re committed to continuing serving Hingham, Hull, and North Cohasset [though] the charger does give the town the right to buy the water system based on a formula to calculate the price.”

Spending on police per person, fiscal year 2012

By Matt Carroll, Boston Globe | June 27, 2013

Click here to see a larger, interactive version of this chart.
Additional town-by-town snapshots.

Photo courtesy of Beth Brainard

Brainard accepts the bronze medal at the Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY) ceremony in New York alongside IPPY Award Director Jim Barnes.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

Hingham mother and author Beth Brainard has won even more accolades for her book, “Soup Should Be Seen, Not Heard!” an etiquette guide for children.

After winning the International Mom’s Choice Award in October, Brainard recently took home the bronze medal in Juvenile Teen Non-fiction, Excellence in Publishing from Independent Publisher’s Group.

Out of the more than 5,000 entries for the awards, presented annually, only 382 received medals.

“It all been great and happening very quickly, and it’s a result of people taking a look at the book and seeing what it has to offer,” Brainard said.

The book stems off Brainard’s experience teaching business etiquette and social skills to corporate groups. She soon realized the information would have been more helpful if the adults had learned the same skills as children.

Soon, the book was on shelves in The Paper Store and RSVP in Hingham, and on Amazon.com, where it became a hit.

According to Brainard, parents use the book on their coffee tables to nudge politeness into both children and adults. Librarians and educators have even raved about the publication at book signings.

“Librarians said they don’t have anything like this on the shelves, and it will be a nice [addition] to the collection because it’s a big book of manners and appeals to both boys and girls,” Brainard said.

All the success has Brainard’s wheels spinning, and already she is working on a book about golfing etiquette for beginners.

“It’s called “Don’t crunch your chips while I’m putting.” I love golf, my husband and I are avid golfers, and I started out writing it for just children, but [several people] said there are so many people that begin golf as adults that this would be helpful. That’s coming out this summer.”

In the meantime, Brainard has been busy. Not only has she been named a global ambassador for International Group Parenting 2.0, she is a resident etiquette expert on the Mom’s Choice Matters Blog with a weekly Tuesday post.

To read more about the book, click here.

The following is a press release from Linden Ponds:

People who live at Linden Ponds gathered together to quilt pillow cases for ConKerr Cancer, an organization that delivers bright and cheerful pillowcases to children with life threatening illnesses.

Children's Hospital Boston, The Jimmy Fund and MassGeneral Hospital for Children are just a few of the hospitals that will receive the pillowcases.

So far to date, the group at Linden Ponds has made over 100 pillowcases for ConKerr Cancer.

"Everyone here was very excited to make the pillow cases again," said Vivian Bleakney, Chair of the Pillow Case Group at Linden Ponds. "A few years back Sandra O'Shaughnessy, lives here at Linden Ponds, is a member of our Tuesday Needlework Group and a member of the Bayberry Guild on the Cape, heard about ConKerr Cancer at a Guild meeting and asked us to help make pillow cases. We get a great turnout of people every year who want to help and several of the women do not even sew, they cut or iron the fabric as needed."

The group follows a very specific pattern and will use donated fabric and sewing machines to put the pillow cases together. The collection center is a quilt shop in South Weymouth called Heart in Hands.

The pillowcases people at Linden Ponds will be making will go to the following hospitals in Boston that ConKerr Cancer supports and delivers pillowcase smiles to:

Children's Hospital Boston
The Jimmy Fund
MassGeneral Hospital for Children
Floating Hospital for Children
Emerson Hospital
Ronald McDonald House
Boston Medical Center
The Yawkey Family Inn
Shriners Hospitals for Children

"We get together once a year to work on the pillow cases." Said Bleakney. "We have always had a large group of residents helping with the project because we know the pillow cases will put a smile on someone's face. "

Linden Ponds is a full-service continuing care retirement community situated on a scenic 108-acre campus in Hingham, Massachusetts. The vibrant campus opened in October 2004, and is home to 1,200 people who are enjoying life to the fullest.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

Plans for Hingham to buy back an affordable housing property from disputed owner Wanpen Florentine have fallen through, leaving the property to sit vacant awhile longer.

Florentine, who pleaded guilty to mortgage fraud and applying for a false license in February, offered to sell the Ridgewood Crossing condo to the town in early 2013.

Though the sale was to be finalized on Tuesday, problems with the mortgages on the house as well as several building code violations halted the process.

“It’s the town’s position that she wasn’t able to perform,” said Susan Murphy, Hingham’s real estate counsel.

Officials have wanted Florentine out of the condo since discovering she had turned the parcel into a multifamily home and was renting it without town consent.

There were also questions about the legality of Florentine’s ownership.

The house was purchased at a below-market rate for buyers in certain income brackets. But according to deed records, one of Florentine’s names is attached to a $1.9 million house on Crooked Meadow Lane in Hingham.

Murphy said the town still wants to buy the home. Next steps, including renegotiating the price or possible litigation, would be up to the Board of Selectmen.

“The town is in the position of any other buyer,” Murphy said. “The town has to decide if it would take any action a buyer could when a seller doesn’t perform.”

Though Florentine said the closing snafu was not her fault, Murphy said the problems are on Florentine’s shoulders.

Florentine firstly couldn’t clear all three mortgages on the property, a necessity before she is able to sell it back to the town.

Issues mainly involve a mortgage Florentine gave to herself from her current name to her Thailand name.

However during Florentine’s legal battle, her Thailand passport was confiscated. Without any other way to prove her Thailand identity, Florentine cannot sign off on the mortgage.

According to Murphy, the affordable condo also still has several building code violations that need fixing.

Several of the violations were reported over a year ago, Murphy said, when the town first discovered that Florentine had turned the condo into a multi-family home.

“She had done most of what she was required but not everything had been completed,” Murphy said.

Yet Florentine pointed the finger at the town for the impasse, saying that she was notified of additional building code violations only the day before the closing.

“I said, ‘Give me time to remedy that and I should be able to fix everything to Zoning Department satisfaction, with a lot less money’,” Florentine said, noting that the town asked to withhold $10,000 of the $181,750 selling price to make up for the disputed work. “I don’t think I would incur more than $1,000. I was glad to do that.”

Florentine also said because the town’s Police Department initially took her Thailand passport away from her, town officials should help retrieve it for purposes of the sale.

“I want to put this all behind me,” Florentine said.

The most recent legal problems are only the tip of the iceberg for Florentine, who said the last year has been a series of unfortunate events.

“I didn’t do anything criminally, intentionally,” Florentine said.

The multiple name changes were the result of several marriages, and were all legally done, Florentine said.

Florentine also asserted that she bought the Ridgewood Crossing house legally, as she isn’t the owner of the $1.9 million Crooked Meadow Lane home. Since her divorce, she is only the trustee of a trust that owns the home, and acts as a janitor on behalf of her children, she said.

When the Crooked Meadow Lane home burnt down in 2007, she applied to buy the affordable housing condo.

Florentine said in an interview with boston.com that she did not read the contract she signed for the parcel, leading to violations when outfitting the home for two people and renting out half of it.

A police investigation led police to discover dozens of documents with several names listed on them. Though police initially accused Florentine of identity fraud, Florentine said she had just saved a lifetime of documents.

Florentine was placed on house arrest at her Crooked Meadow home for a year until pleading guilty in February to two charges — applying for a false license and one count of mortgage fraud.

Since resolving fraud allegations, and finally having the tenant move out of the affordable home, Florentine said she just wants to silence her legal problems.

“I certainly have been thrown away to the wolves,” she said. “I admit to not knowing [about the contract]. If I had known all these things, I would never have jeopardized, placed myself in this predicament … I’m destroyed.”

Florentine said she has reached the end of her legal rope, and can no longer afford an attorney to resolve the existing mortgage issues.

What that means for the town will be discussed in upcoming weeks, but has yet to be decided, Murphy said.

“The town still has the same end goal, but they have got to get it free and clear and not having a huge expense in bringing it up to code,” Murphy said. “How that gets resolved is the open question.”

Girl Scouts of Eastern Mass. announced Thursday that 51 Girl Scouts have earned the Girl Scout Gold Award-- the highest recognition a member of the organization can achieve.

The award recognizes a service project within a girl's community that creates change and becomes ongoing while also portraying a girl's organizational, leadership, and networking skills. To earn the award, girls must complete the Silver Award and a minimum of 80 hours of service, according to a press release.

The awards were given in a ceremony on June 19 at the Marlborough Holiday Inn.

Here is a list of the girls and an explanation of their projects:

Emily Allard, Stoneham
Allard's project, Lindenwood Cemetery Visitors Project, helped visitors easily locate the cemetery plots of their friends and family. She replaced the street signs and poles and created a detailed map of the cemetery near the entrance. Smaller paper maps are also available for visitors to take with them.

Claire Bagnani, Chestnut Hill
Bagnani’s project, Elder Youth Connection, helps senior citizens who are living alone or lacking support systems. Children of Brookline regularly spent time with the elderly and provided assistance by grocery shopping and running errands. The partnership between elder housing communities and the youth of Brookline formed a strong bond among the two communities. The program, titled SHOP, will continue this relationship between the senior citizens and high school students.

Andrea Bourke, Kingston (she moved to Maryland but remained in her Kingston GS troop through Skype and other technology)
The Chesapeake Bay is one of the unhealthiest waterways in the world, due to human habitation, development, deforestation, overfishing and nutrient pollution. Bourke's project, Save the Bay, aimed to promote awareness for this regional issue and brought about change by educating others on how they can affect the problem. She worked with a school that bordered the bay to create a rain garden designed to catch rainwater off the roof of the building closest to the bay. The garden was 800 square feet and contained native plants. Bourke also created posters and brochures to educate others on how to keep the bay clean. The EcoClub at the school will maintain the garden.

Meckila Britt, Ashland
Britt's project, One Skein of Yarn, helped bridge the gap between generations through knitting and crocheting. She managed a group of individuals, ages 10 to 101, who spent time together learning to knit and crochet. The group made hats, scarves, and mittens for the homeless. In December, they assembled their projects into gift baskets that were delivered to a local family shelter. They also provided a basket of home-baked goodies for the shelter staff. The group continues to meet and make additional items for other shelters.

Emily Buckley, Canton
Buckley's high school requires that each student complete 20 hours of community service. The only source of these opportunities is through the Career Center website, which was not maintained properly and needed to be updated with more current and diverse opportunities. Buckley's project, Career Center Website Rehabilitation, provides easy access to information on local nonprofit organizations, as well as organizations outside the community, offering students more diverse service opportunities to choose from. Members of the school's chapter of the National Honor Society will update the website annually.

Rachel Cabitt, Rowley
Cabitt's project, Painting History, combined art and history to educate the community about the town's history. She painted a mural in the town hall and held workshops in the library to share the historical aspects depicted in the mural. She then had participants express what they learned artistically.

Kathryn Chiffer, Topsfield
Chiffer's project, Project Lunchbox: Let's Eat!, educates elementary school students and their families about the link between healthy eating and positive school performance. She taught multi-generational nutrition and cooking classes, which included reading labels and understanding marketing strategies used by manufacturers. She maintains a blog to educate the wider community about the importance of healthy eating and writes a weekly column in her school's newsletter. Chiffer also convinced the school cafeteria to add one of her healthy recipes to the menu. Her school will continue to support her endeavors by applying for a grant to fund an expansion of her program.\

Arianne Chipman, Hingham
Chipman's project, Green Thumbs Gardening, teaches local elementary school students the value of growing local produce and supporting local farms. She helped them plant a garden that was maintained over summer break by students and their families. An autumn harvest was shared by the school community, allowing for cost savings on the school's produce. The school will be continuing this program.

Jennifer Crawford, North Reading
Crawford's project, Interfaith Leadership Summit, addresses religious intolerance. Through the summit and a video documentary, she educated local youth groups about different faiths and encouraged them to teach others what they learned. High school students from the area participated in workshops on diversity, acceptance, tolerance, religious pluralism and identities. Crawford's church youth group plans on making this an annual event.

Danielle Davies, Boxford
For over 15 years, the Boxford Town Library has been in poor condition, with limited storage and very little usable space for programs and activities. Davies' project, Boxford Library Rescue, gave the library a much needed update and reorganized the library's storage space. Davies worked with volunteers to clean out the library barn, providing the library with more storage and better access to materials stored there. In addition, they reorganized and repainted the current space, giving the library a fresh look and more space for community programs and events. The Friends of the Library have agreed to maintain the storage space.

Jessica Desmond, Chelmsford
Women and children are often victims of violence and do not know how to protect themselves. Desmond's project, A Fighting Chance, collaborated with self-defense instructors and local police officers to provide workshops on basic self-defense, while also educating participants on laws related to domestic violence and rape. She created a video to be used by her dojo, which has decided to run a six-week course on self-defense for women and girls.

Emily Doucette, Maynard
Doucette's project, Organizing for the Future of the Choral Program, organized her school's choral collection based on music type, artist, and title. Doucette created a log documenting resources and a new storage system that holds more music, and updated file cabinets with new paint. She also created a Guide to Being a Chorus Librarian to ensure that her new organized system would be maintained. She utilized Facebook and a blog to recruit volunteers.

Elizabeth Driver, Topsfield
Driver's project, Read, Reinforce, Reach Out, provided supplemental materials for classrooms with autistic students. She assembled binders containing literacy materials and activities that reinforce concepts taught in classroom books. Driver created two displays, one aimed at adults and the other toward children, at the local library to educate the public about autism. She also visited some elementary classrooms to emphasize the importance of understanding autism and inclusion.

Jazmin Eltoury, Quincy
Eltoury's project, Creating a Safe Environment for Youth in Town, provides the children in her community safe opportunities to participate in outdoor activities on a regular basis. She started a teen group that met regularly at the local sportsman club. She also created an instructional video to teach the fundamentals of archery and help parents get their children involved in archery and outdoor activities in a safe environment.

Claire Faddis, Boxford
Faddis' project, Water Conservation Education and Promotion, promotes water conservation through education. Faddis worked with second graders in her community, educating them about wasting water and the important role water plays in their daily lives through classroom activities. Students now conserve water by turning off the water when brushing their teeth and checking for leaking faucets. She also taught adults in the community about using rain barrels to capture water, which can be used to water gardens and lawns. She wrote numerous articles on rain barrel usage for the local paper and created a website which will continue the education process.

Caitlin Fitzmaurice, Scituate
Fitzmaurice's project, A Child's Sanctuary: Go Green for Marine Life, brings community awareness to marine biodiversity and teaches the community to protect this special habitat. She ran two events for families that held a number of interactive, fun and educational activities about marine life and the harmful effects humans can cause. She worked closely with NOAA/Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and trained their volunteers, who will continue to provide Fitzmaurice's workshops to the community.

Colleen Fitzpatrick, North Reading
Fitzpatrick's project, Parish Park Rededication and Cleanup, constructed a memorial garden in North Reading's Parish Park to honor the town's veterans. She, along with volunteers, created a beautiful, reflective space where townspeople can remember and appreciate the veterans. Upon completion, Fitzpatrick organized an event to honor the veterans and to dedicate the space to them.

Kiersten Flodman, Rowley
Flodman's project, Babies on the Go, gave access to developmental toys for families with new babies. She worked with community groups to gather supplies, make blankets, and assemble bags containing rattles, books, blankets and laminated cards explaining the importance of developmental play. Local physical and occupational therapists and service providers distributed the bags to their patients.

Alicia Healey, Canton
Healey's project, Mission Pet Safe, is an educational campaign for pet owners. The campaign addressed pet safety, including accidental poisoning, car accidents, proper restraint practices, pet first-aid kits and heat-related deaths from dogs left in cars. Healy, with the help of volunteers, created bookmarks, a traveling display, first-aid kits, brochures and puzzles for preschoolers. She gave presentations at the library and the middle school and high school. She also wrote an article for the newspaper, shared the information on global websites, and created a website and blog.

Emma Holland, Hingham
Holland's project, Sounds of the Past, involved working with fellow student musicians to compile and bring back historical 19th-century American music to the town's historical society. She researched, transcribed and learned the music with help from her fellow musicians. The group recorded the music, which is now available for use by the historical society and can be found on YouTube. They also held a live performance of the music for the local elementary school. To view her project blog, visit www.gssoundsofthepast.tumblr.com.

Caroline Hultin, Sudbury
Hultin's project, Up and Out for Gold 2012, addresses homelessness. She worked with Heading Home, a nonprofit that provides emergency, transitional, and permanent housing to low-income homeless and formerly homeless families. Hultin, with the help of volunteers, furnished and cleaned an apartment for a homeless family. She also recruited younger Girl Scout troops to collaborate with Heading Home to set up additional homes.

Anna Krah, Medfield
Krah’s project, Coexisting Cultures, expanded cultural education in her community. She created a Chinese Club at Medfield High School and introduced the plight of people in Nicaragua to children in the third grade. As a result of their experiences, high school students expressed greater interest in a Chinese exchange program and the third graders gained a better understanding of the global impact of community service.

Danielle Lapierre, Chelmsford
After being used by the community for years, the Lady of Fatima statue at St. Mary's Church has become overgrown and inaccessible. Lapierre's project, Create St. Mary Parish Marian Grotto, involved designing and building a beautiful grotto with the help of many volunteers. The newly transformed space is now a place where the community can meditate, reflect or pray. A dedicated group of parishioners will maintain the area and already plan to add a waterfall feature.

Katherine LaScaleia, Sudbury
LaScaleia’s project, Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Reducing Idling in the Community of Sudbury, educates both youth and adults about the environmental, economic and health hazards of idling. She ran a bike rally to inspire children to ride their bikes while also teaching them about the dangers of idling. She used various methods to bring awareness, such as writing a series of articles for the newspaper on the hazards of idling and created a website where people can take a pledge to reduce their idling.

Whitney Ligonde, Dedham
Ligonde's project, Educational Inequality, organized high school students to tutor younger students one-on-one through the middle school's homework club. Working with school staff, she changed the policy that only National Honor Society students were allowed to tutor middle school students. She worked with the math department to train the tutors and develop a curriculum. Her high school will continue her work by making this an official club.

Christina Liotti, Danvers
Liotti's project, Seniors on the Move, aims to inspire senior citizens to become more active. With the new Danvers Rail Trail in mind, she created a club called Walk with the Seniors. Students from her school walked with seniors as a group, giving them a sense of security and the option of assistance if needed. Her high school has made this an official community service option for students.

Anne LoVerso, Southborough
LoVerso’s project, Childhood Health and Fitness through Circus Arts, addresses childhood obesity and the lack of childhood health and fitness. She worked with a local circus school to develop a static trapeze curriculum with step-by-step instructions for tricks, spotting, warm-up exercises and conditioning. She, along with a team of volunteers, held a workshop for 4th and 5th graders to share circus activities and provided information on healthy eating at a large community event. Her curriculum will be used by gym teachers in elementary schools. The National Honor Society has also agreed to hold a fitness booth at their opening day event.

Alison McDermott, Hingham
McDermott's project, Teens Teach Technology, helps senior citizens feel more comfortable with using technology. She and her peer volunteers provided workshops on Skype, Twitter and Facebook. The senior citizens are now able to connect with family overseas, reconnect with old classmates and share photos with loved ones. McDermott created a binder and PowerPoint presentation for future workshop leaders.

Samantha McGoldrick, North Reading
McGoldrick's project, Raised Beds for North Reading Food Pantry, involved creating and maintaining four raised garden beds behind the food pantry building. These gardens help supply the North Reading Food Pantry with fresh fruits and vegetables to serve families. The local garden club has agreed to care for the gardens and will donate plants to keep the project going.

Molly McGowan, Waltham
McGowan’s project, The Imagination Station, addresses the lack of imaginative play present in many children’s hospitals. For a hospital play room, she created a cabinet that is filled with imaginative play toys and that can be accessed 24/7 by children and their families. She worked closely with a Child Life Specialist to determine appropriate activities for hospitalized children of all ages. McGowan created a committee of volunteers who will maintain the imagination station.

Jessica Merritt, Pembroke
Merritt's project, Water Safety, brought community awareness to drowning and how it can be prevented. She created informative and interactive activity stations that included open water education and CPR demonstrations. In addition, she created a binder with all the information needed to continue this awareness program, which the town landing chairman has agreed to do.

Melissa Moody, Newton
Moody’s project, Wetlands: The Final Frontier, brought community awareness to the local wetlands. She worked with DCR officials and local volunteers to install informational posts throughout the Charles River Wetlands. Each post has a QR code that visitors can scan with their smart phones. The code directs them to a website (www.qbqtrail.org) with information about that particular part of the wetlands.

Katelin Oberlander, West Yarmouth
Oberlander's project, Mini Clinic for Field Hockey, gives younger girls a better understanding of field hockey before they enter high school. She held field hockey clinics where girls practiced the sport, learned to work as a team, enjoyed exercise and learned about proper nutrition to keep their bodies fueled.

Leda Olia, Newton
Olia’s project, Will Run for Fun, introduced elementary school children to long-distance running to promote enthusiasm for the sport at a younger age. She created an afterschool long-distance running program and employed high school volunteers. She also produced a handbook, which will be used by future volunteers to continue the program.

Ann Pastorello, Tewksbury
Pastorello's project, Operation Blanket, helps educate the community about animal shelters and animal adoption. She worked with local children and members of the senior center to create blankets and treats for cats at the MSPCA shelter. Pastorello created a PowerPoint presentation and flyer that she shared at various workshops. She also made a YouTube video demonstrating how to make the blankets.

Hannah Peternell, Westford
Peternell's project, New Student Protocol, creates a welcome program for new students at Westford Academy. She designed an infrastructure of support, such as welcome phone calls to new students, invitations to a new student orientation banquet and appointing peer counselors to show new students around, to help ease their transition into a new school. The program will be continued by the school's guidance staff and peer counselor group.

Samantha Rizzo, Canton
A can is recycled in 6 weeks, but takes hundreds of years to decompose in a landfill. Rizzo raised public awareness about the need to recycle through her project, Recycling Receptacles. She gave a presentation to her local Board of Selectmen to show why the town needed public recycling receptacles and explained the costs between different types of receptacles. She made a public service announcement on recycling, which will air annually on Canton Community Television. Rizzo also created recycling stickers to encourage the public to use the new receptacles.

Kristina Ryan, Burlington
Ryan's project, Heartbeat Awareness Program, addressed teen pregnancy and provided support systems for teen moms. Ryan partnered with Heartbeat Pregnancy Health Center, a nonprofit organization that provides free resources to pregnant teens such as free ultrasounds, prenatal and infant care, counseling, and items needed for the baby. Ryan gave community presentations to teens and their families about the health center and the resources available. She also collected supplies for the teens and newborns that the organization will distribute.

Meredith Scheiring, Hingham
Feeling inspired to help teens who are newly diagnosed with diabetes, Scheiring's project, Diabetes Domain, created a website for those with diabetes. On the site, people can share inspirational and personal stories, advice, regrets, words of encouragement and information on developing technology for diabetic care. The College Diabetes Network will maintain the website: diabetesdomain.wix.com/dd.

Kristen Shevlin, North Reading
Shevlin's project, Backyard Gardens, addresses the issue of limited access to healthy foods. She worked with members of the community to build raised-bed gardens. Some fruits and vegetables are for community consumption while others are donations to the local food pantry. She also provided healthy recipes for the food pantry to hand out to patrons. A younger Girl Scout troop will continue her project.

Charlotte Skolnick, Pembroke
Skolnick's project, Self-Guided Historical Tours of Pembroke, provides the community with an interactive experience of the town's rich and interesting sites. She worked closely with the Pembroke library staff to develop accurate descriptions of the historical sites. With a team of volunteers, she created two walking routes and three driving routes through town. Skolnick held a kickoff event to introduce the walking tours to her community.

Gabriella Smith, Andover
Smith's project, Rediscovering Haggetts Pond Through Modern Technology, promotes the trails surrounding Andover's Haggetts Pond. She used modern technology to make the trail's information more accessible and appealing. Using GPS and cartography software, Smith created a detailed map of the area. She worked with volunteers to develop an informational website about Haggetts Pond as well as a kiosk displaying a QR code that brings smart phone users to the website.

Eliza Lily Snow, Hingham
Snow's project, Middle School Circle Club, is a club for middle-school children, with and without disabilities, to interact and socialize in a safe, judgment-free environment. The bi-monthly club focuses on the importance of inclusion and acceptance. The Circle Club helped to strengthen friendships and inspired members to participate in the high school's Best Buddies program. Students from the Best Buddies program will continue the Circle Club at the middle school.

Amelia Steeger, Medfield
Steeger’s project, Cranes for Change, created environmental educational clubs at the local afterschool program for children in grades 2–6. She also set up a monthly group at her church to explore topics like chemicals in body care products, recycling and repurposing materials, and growing organic foods. She worked in conjunction with Medfield Green to sponsor a Forever Green Family Night Out. Each participant created a paper crane to symbolize their pledge to help the environment. This event will be continued by Girl Scouts working on their Sow What? Journey.

Jennifer Sullivan, Wakefield
Sullivan's project, Replacing Missing House Numbers, addresses the issue of house numbers not being visible to emergency personnel. With the help of volunteers, she checked approximately 5,000 houses in Wakefield and notified owners that their house numbers were missing or not easily visible from the street. Sullivan worked with the local fire chief to send letters informing residents of the safety issue. A local hardware store offered a discount on the purchase of new house numbers if residents showed the letter. The local fire department will continue her crusade.

Samantha Traficante, Kingston
Traficante's project, Kiosk and Signage Maintenance at Open Spaces, brought public awareness to Kingston's conservation properties. The properties were run down and vandalized, and Traficante worked with a team of volunteers to clean up the properties and repair information kiosks. She also created map boxes to hold site maps at each location.

Katerina Tsoutsouras, Rowley
Tsoutsouras' project, Loving Literature: Helping Children Develop a Love of Books and Reading, addresses illiteracy by finding ways to motivate children to read more. She scheduled weekly book club sessions at the Ipswich Library and United Methodist Church for children ages 5 to 8. Volunteers offered reading sessions for different skill levels and time for crafts to further engage the children. When parents were surveyed, they expressed that the children were more interested in reading at home in their free time after attending the sessions.

Emily Van Laarhoven, Southborough
Families with children who have special needs have trouble finding qualified babysitters. In order to have child care they have to hire a specialist at $25-30 an hour, or rely on older siblings. This is often detrimental to the family dynamic and creates additional strain both financially and mentally on parents. Van Laarhoven’s project, Training Course for Babysitting Kids with Special Needs, trained volunteers to recognize and understand specific special needs diagnoses, creating a pool of knowledgeable and skilled babysitters at a reasonable rate.

Stephanie Wasiuk, Maynard
Wasiuk’s project, Music for the Future, organized the high school band’s music into an easy-to-use system, making resources easily available to students. She restored over 200 boxes of organized material, made note of missing pieces, and documented the contents. She also created a how-to manual for the system and a shelving unit to track music being returned and ensure its proper storage.

Laura White, Reading
White's project, Spreading Shakespeare, helped people appreciate Shakespeare by exposing them to his work. With the assistance of volunteers dressed in costumes from the 1500s, she held workshops for teens at the library's Teen Summer Reading program and worked with younger children at Camp Rice Moody. She also helped middle school students put on a performance of Twelfth Night. A recording of the performance and how-to videos can be found on YouTube.

Anna Willms, Wellesley
Willms' project, Preparing Children for an Eye Examination, addresses children's fear and anxiety concerning eye exams. She created a video and booklet to educate children on what an eye exam entails. The video and booklet have been given to Mass Eye and Ear and Children's Hospital to help alleviate their young patients' fears.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

Hingham police have made headway in identifying a man accused of trying to run over a Hingham police officer, and have obtained a corrected warrant for his arrest.

Though police initially believed the man had a different name, tips sent to detectives uncovered the suspect’s true identity.

Police are now asking for the public’s help in locating Bruno Vieira, 30, formerly of Malden.

Police said he is 6 foot 2, 280 pounds, with brown eyes and a tattoo on his upper right arm. He is known to use the last names of Brauer, Attala, and Perreira, and also had a previous address in Florida.

According to police, the suspect is from Brazil, and his residency status is undetermined. He may have attended Everett High School, and is known to be involved in auto sales and construction.

According to Hingham police, the incident occurred on June 7 at 10:38 p.m., when an officer responded to a report of a truck driving with its lights off through the Best Chevrolet on Derby Street.

The dealership is surrounded by a fence and a gate, and an employee working late saw the vehicle and called police.

Police arrived and saw the suspicious truck. When the suspect saw the police cruiser, he allegedly drove past the officer. Police said the suspect was wearing a black ski mask.

The officer drove after the suspect to attempt to pull him over, following the truck into a partially blocked alley. The suspect attempted to escape by driving into several parked cars; meanwhile, the officer got out of his vehicle, drew his gun, and ordered the driver to stop.

The truck then pulled forward and drove toward the officer, who jumped out of the way to avoid being struck. The officer was uninjured.

According to police, the truck smashed through the closed front gate and continued without lights onto Derby Street. Police followed the car as it entered into Weymouth and soon onto Route 3 south.

Police said the truck then crossed over the grass median and onto Route 3 north. Police ended the pursuit due to safety reasons, police said.

But though police hadn’t followed, the driver didn’t make it far. While on Route 3 north near the Weymouth-Braintree line, the truck crashed into another car. Upon impact, the truck rolled over and landed upright.

The suspect allegedly ran into the woods.

Police said occupants of the struck car were taken to the hospital for non-life threatening injuries. Though two police K-9 units responded to the scene, they were unable to locate the driver.

Police said it appeared several tires were stolen from vehicles in the dealership, and burglary tools were recovered from the vehicle.

The truck also had a stolen New Hampshire license plate taped over the Massachusetts license plate. Though the New Hampshire license plate had been reported as stolen in Peabody, the truck was registered to a business in Milford, Massachusetts.

Police initially spoke to the business owner, who had the wrong name for the suspect. Based on his testimony and evidence found on the scene, an arrest warrant was issued.

Since receiving several tips, a revised warrant has been issued for Vieira. The warrant lists 17 charges, including felony assault with a dangerous weapon on an officer.

The warrant has been entered into the National Crime Information Center and has been issued nationwide. According to police, Vieira is also wanted in Florida for violation of probation for grant theft (2008) as well as an outstanding warrant from Malden District Court (2004) for receiving a stolen vehicle, driving to endanger, driving with a suspended license, and failure to stop for an officer.

The public is encouraged to contact Detective Philip Emmott at 781-749-1212 with any information. People can also leave an anonymous tip on the Drop-A-Dime link on the website www.hpd.org.

Anyone who knows of Vieira’s current location is asked to call local police.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

Retiring Hingham Middle School principal Rodger Boddie has perhaps the most memorable going-away present in Hingham history – a flash mob comprising hundreds of students and staff.

The crowd of choreographed teens and adults, some bearing signs and others dressed in neon colors, strode out to the parking lot of Hingham Middle School on June 6 to surprise the 36-year veteran of the school system.

Meanwhile, an unaware Boddie led cameras on what he thought was a tour of the new Middle School, under construction next door. Once he got to the roof, Boddie saw the entire student body in the parking lot below.

“When I saw everybody out there -- when I first saw them -- I thought the fire alarm must have gone off and I didn’t realize it,” Boddie said a week after the event. “I called them on the radio, ‘What’s going on?’ And they said, ‘Oh, nothing,’ and I see kids in a circle. ... We don’t go in a circle for a fire alarm. I knew I had been had.”

In a video captured by Hingham Community Access Television, Boddie’s confusion turns to shock and turns to gratitude, as students and staff dance to “Don’t Stop Believing,” signs held high in the background thanking Boddie for believing in the school community.

“It was so nicely done. I just don’t know of anyone else that’s happened to,” Boddie said.

The event took less than two weeks to put together, said Katherine Forbes, president of the Hingham Education Foundation and a member of the school’s PTO, and one of the organizers of the event.

Forbes said the idea for the flash mob came from assistant principal David Riordan, who asked the school’s PTO if its members could help pull it together.

Forbes immediately thought of Hingham Community Center dance teacher Jenn Feeney, and soon had asked her to participate.

“We wouldn’t have been able to pull it off if we didn’t have her instruction,” Forbes said.

As Feeney got going teaching several of her students and some teachers the routine, the art classes at Hingham Middle School got to work, making the signs to be held up in the background. Meanwhile, Hingham TV was brought on board to capture the event.

“We didn’t know if it would be a complete flop. To have the kids keep it secret and the timing of it all was very sketchy. I was keeping my fingers crossed,” Forbes said.

Organizers said the effort was well worth it, especially to thank Boddie for his decades of service to Hingham Public Schools.

Not only has Boddie been the principal of Hingham Middle School for the last nine years, he also served as a high school teacher and a high school assistant principal, as well as working at one of the town’s now extinct junior high schools.

“Boddie is just a wonderful guy,” Forbes said. “He has a great sense of humor, he’ll be dearly missed at the middle school, and I think it was something fun to do as a tribute to him. And it was a great thing for the whole school to be involved with, and exciting and fun for them.”

The moment highlighted the bittersweet feeling of retiring, Boddie said, saying he’ll miss both the kids and the staff.

Though described as a very humble man, Boddie will be able to soak in the moment a little while longer. His last day happens to be his 58th birthday, on Aug. 19.

In the meantime, the farewell has only amplified Boddie’s mixed feelings about leaving

“I think I’m confused right now. I know I should be really happy, and I am. I think I probably feel the same way a sixth-grade student would feel coming into the building. They are excited, but they don’t know what it's about, but they are looking forward to it,” Boddie said.

By Dave Eisenstadter, Town Correspondent

Fed up with flights over Milton, some residents are making a plan to persuade the Federal Aviation Administration to reverse a decision to establish a departure corridor above the town.

The Milton Citizens Committee on Aviation Impacts met Thursday evening in the basement of the Town Hall, along with representatives from other communities affected by the recent change.

Sheryl Fleitman, a cochair of the committee, went through a presentation about the new flight path, which brings departures from the 33-L runway at Logan Airport above Milton.

The route is a one-mile-wide condensed flight path, which went into effect this month.

“Basically, it’s just a highway in the sky,” Fleitman said.

Two such paths already exist over Milton, according to the committee’s research – flights from runways 4 and 27. In the past two years, Milton experienced a 21 percent increase in airplane arrivals on Runway 4 alone, according to the committee’s presentation.

One of the committee’s objectives is to disperse the flights so that more towns share the burden of noise and environmental effects.

They plan to make use of the FAA’s 30- to 60-day comment period. The flight path will have a six-month trial period from June to December before it becomes permanent.

The presentation addressed grievances including increased air traffic, noise at night, environmental concerns, and a lack of monitoring for the noise.

Frank Parker, who previously was involved in a route redirection that affected Hull and Hingham, said a more effective argument was related to safety rather than noise.

“There are around 9,689 students in schools [in Milton],” he said. “The number of planes flying over such a crowded area only adds to the risk of… the possibility of a disaster taking place.”

Committee member Cindy Christiansen said she thought Curry College students were not counted in the Milton population to determine the number of people who would be affected by the route change.

Committee members asked the 30 or so people who attended the meeting to get more involved with the committee.

Philip Johenning, another committee member, said the committee also needed to make political connections.

“There are enough political people in this town… we need your help in getting political clout behind this committee,” Johenning said. “I believe the reason why Hull and Hingham were successful was leaders and state representatives and congressmen and school committees got behind them.”

The full presentation