SPORTS

Say no
to Norwell
UPC (A) General Priced right
 SEE INSERT  SEE PAGE 13

GateHouse Media www.wickedlocalduxbury.com FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 2010 44 Pages ■ 4 Sections ■ Vol. 23, No. 13 ■ 75¢

HOLY HOOPS!
Tee one
Town Election
Saturday,
March 26
up, tie
8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
At Duxbury
one on
Middle School Golf course operator
wants to serve
drinks on the green
Candidates’ By Matthew Nadler
Questions MNADLER@CNC.COM

DUXBURY – Golfers know what

the 19th hole is; the managers of
North Hill Golf Course are interested
in creating the 5-1/2th hole.
Representatives of Johnson Golf,
which manages the course, wants per-
mission to have a drinks cart serving
alcoholic beverages out on the course
PHOTO/DAVE MACCAFERRI
during some events.
God Squad community team member, Father Sean Maher of Holy Family Parish, demonstrates the miracle of spinning a hula hoop
without moving a muscle at last week’s “Are You Smarter than a Duxbury Fifth Grader?” event at the Performing Arts Center.
Johnson Golf has a license to serve
You can find more photos at www.wickedlocalduxbury.com. liquor in the clubhouse.
Steve Follansbee, attorney for
Johnson Golf, said the cart would only

Union Out of the frying pan…

Find out what they think
 SEE PAGE 4
Business Profile
label
School bus drivers
join the Teamsters
By Matthew Nadler
MNADLER@CNC.COM
DUXBURY – Feeling that they were
losing ground compared to their coun-
terparts in neighboring communities,
Duxbury school bus drivers decided to
do something about.
Mike Gill That something was joining a union.
And not any union – they’re
 SEE PAGE 7 Teamsters now.
Driver and newly selected shop stew-
ard John Gaffney said he and his fellow
Progress 2010 drivers decided to organize after watch-
ing promised raises evaporate and tradi-
tional benefits, such as a Christmas
turkey, disappear. They felt, he said,
that the company’s own financial chal-
lenges were being hoisted on them.
“Maybe a Christmas turkey doesn’t
sound like much, but it means a lot,”
Gaffney said. “We’re just trying to hold
the line.”
Many bus drivers, Gaffney said, are
working mothers.
“We’ve been getting shorted for the
while,” he said. “We can only take so
much.”
be used for league matches and “out-
ings,” which he defined as charitable
events.
He explained that having on-course
Benefits restored to cafeteria workers, but drink service would make North Hill
privatized food service being considered
Matthew Nadler
MNADLER@CNC.COM
institutional food business, Skeiber said.
“There are only so many companies that
more attractive to groups planning
such events.
However, given concerns raised by
town counsel Bob Troy, and their own
worries, selectmen decided to hold off
DUXBURY – The lunch ladies got do this,” she noted.
their health insurance back, for now. Chartwells provides food services for making a decision.
Cafeteria workers signed a new con- the Rockland Public Schools. Aramark Selectman Jon Witten, who was
tract with the School Department that provides East Bridgewater’s food ser- spending his last meeting as a select-
restored the hours they lost in October. vices. men, was opposed to the idea.
Troy warned that the town, which
That reduction in hours meant a lose of
owns the course, does not have immu-
health benefits for them. “Some of these girls nity from lawsuits if something hap-
The hours as a cost savings measure
after the department lost $128,000 in its have put their hard- pens due to drinking on the course.
food services budget last year, which is He also noted that once the cart left
earned lives into this a particular location, no one would be
supposed to be self-sufficient.
However, the new contract runs out at job. It’s a blow.” there to observe who was consuming
the end of the current school year, and Mary Critch the alcohol.
the health benefits are only being Johnson Golf, Follansbee said, pro-
restored going forward. The workers are vides “full coverage” for liquor liabil-
still on the hook for their health care The possibility of food services being ity under its contract with the town.
costs dating back to October, according privatized worried Critch, who called it Follansbee said the cart operator
would be TIPS certified. TIPS
to Mary Critch, shop steward for the “a double whammy.”
Duxbury cafeteria workers. After having their hours cut and losing (Training for Intervention Procedures)
And then things get complicated. their benefits, many of the cafeteria is a program that trains bartenders and
Duxbury schools are exploring the workers went on COBRA, which allows wait staff in spotting intoxicated and
possibility of turning the operation of people to purchase, for full cost, whatev- underage drinkers.
their food services to a private vendor. er health insurance plan they had previ- “It’s a public course,” Witten said.
According to Superintendent Sue ously. “I’m dubious this is in the public
Skeiber, requests for proposals were sent Under the town’s health insurance interest.”
out and three bidders responded. plan, according to Critch, the town pays “I could use a cold beer sometimes
They were Aramark, Chartwells and 75 percent of the employees’ health on the course,” Selectman Chris
Whitsons Culinary Group. All three insurance costs. Donato noted, who questioned how
companies are major players in the SEE BENEFITS, PAGE 3 SEE DRINKS, PAGE 3

 SEE INSIDE
Besides, he said, while FirstStudent is
cutting back what it provides its drivers,
“I don’t think the town has cut back on
what they’re paying” FirstStudent.
Go watch fish
The Duxbury School Department Bay Farm students study Duxbury’s waterways
spent $957,528 on transportation dur- By Matthew Nadler
ing the 2009 fiscal year. It budgeted MNADLER@CNC.COM
$1,010,888 for fiscal year 2010 and
INSIDE $1,046,796 for the upcoming fiscal Second of two parts
DUXBURY – The smelt are running,
THIS WEEK year.
The town charges $270 per student, but they aren’t getting very far.
with a $540 per family cap, to provide Not that they mind.
bus service to any student in seventh Like their cousins, the herring, smelt
DATELINE . . . . . .21 leave the ocean to spawn, working
grade or up, and younger students liv-
ing more than two miles from their their way upstream into fresh water.
FAITH . . . . . . . . .23 school. Unlike herring, they aren’t com-
pelled to fight their way upstream to
Duxbury has one more year in its con-
FILM TIMES . . . . .21 tract with FirstStudent, according tothe ancestral breeding ground. For a
Superintendent Sue Skeiber. smelt, any spot will do.
LIBRARY . . . . . . . .6 Meanwhile, drivers who are union- One of those spots is at the bottom of
ized, from such places as East the Indian Creek fish ladder.
OPINIONS . . . . . .10 Bridgewater, are getting raises. Which is why Bay Farm Montessori
The Teamsters have been involved inAcademy middle school students
PUZZLES . . . . . . .22 a national derive to organize found themselves there as part of their
ongoing study of Duxbury’s water-
FirstStudent drivers, according to Brian
SENIORS . . . . . . . .9 McElhinney, the vice president of ways.
Teamsters local 653 in South Easton. They carefully balanced on the rocks PHOTO/DAVE MACCAFERRI
and searched for good spots to watch At a local fish ladder, Bay Farm Montessori Academy students look on as the data
SCHOOLS . . . . . . .9 Besides Duxbury, they recently orga- logger is pulled from the water.
nized Silver Lake and Pembroke dri- the fish from both sides of the creek.
SPORTS . . . . . . . .13 vers. The three groups all work out of Counting the smelt is really a damp Pond, the state stocked Island Creek words of Maria Montessori, founder of
run for when the herring show up in
the same lot, according to McElhinney. pond with herring in the hopes the fish the educational movement that bears
“They came to us,” he said. the next few weeks, John Brawley would spawn. Last year was the first her name, “Their hands and minds,” by
There’s Silver Lake and Pembroke drivers explained. Brawley is a Bay Farm time those fish returned to Duxbury. examining Duxbury’s waterways and
trustee, oysterman and president of Armed with their eyes and equipment building a pair of rowboats.
always earn more than Duxbury drivers,
according to Gaffney. environmental consulting firm purchased through a grant from Woods The day began in the classroom as the
more Saquish Scientific.
The process of organizing was “pret-
Herring have returned to Duxbury
Hole Oceanographic Institute, the stu-
dents are learning about their commu-
students, led by Brawley, reviewed the
latest readings from their monitors. The
ty quick,” McElhinney said, noting it
online took about three months. recently, Brawley said. After the con- nity’s connection to the water. water temperature has risen in recent
struction of the fish ladder running They’re learning it, teacher Meaghan weeks. And reasons are considered.
www.wickedlocalduxbury.com SEE TEAMSTERS, PAGE 3 underneath Tremont Street into Mill Hathaway explained, by using, in the SEE WATERWAYS, PAGE 3