Remembering Hull’s biggest issues and memorable newsmakers of 2023 – Part 2

Compiled by The Hull Times staff

JULY

The select board adopted a temporary policy to allow public comment on individual agenda items, allowing members of the public wishing to speak on a particular item to do so after being recognized by the chair. The temporary policy is based on guidelines provided by Town Counsel James Lampke and developed with input from retiring Town Manager Philip Lemnios. The discussion was prompted by a complaint from a resident about the board’s disallowance of resident participation at meetings other than public hearings.

The Hull Nantasket Chamber of Commerce announced that its popular Hull-O Trolley would not be making its rounds this summer due to a lack of funding and higher operating expenses.

At its first meeting since the annual town election results were finalized, the Hull Redevelopment Authority elected new officers and agreed to wait until September to schedule additional public forums on its draft Urban Renewal Plan. Later in the month they invited Hull residents to submit their unique visions for the land. The HRA’s goal with their call for ideas was to gather more information to offer additional choices for community consideration.

During the Fourth of July weekend, police received numerous calls reporting fireworks that were too loud or too close to the piping plover nests on the beach. State Police troopers confiscated two wagonloads of fireworks near the Hull Redevelopment Authority.

For the second time since 2021, plans to revitalize the Paragon Boardwalk property were withdrawn by the developer when its attorney requested via letter to withdraw the application for a height variance without prejudice, meaning that the developer would be able to reapply in the future.

Graduation exercises for the Wellspring Multi-Service Centers’ Adult Learning Program were held at the Bernie King Pavilion.

The select board acted on a citizens’ petition bearing the requisite 200 signatures to call a special town meeting related to the potential granting of an additional package store license for the Quick Pick Food Store on Nantasket Avenue. The date was set for Aug. 31.

The select board approved an employment contract with new Town Manager Jennifer Constable following a lengthy executive session. The three-year contract included an annual salary of $190,600 and four weeks of vacation, along with other benefits.

AUGUST

A citizens’ petition for the Aug. 31 special town meeting asked voters to amend the town’s zoning bylaw and overturn the ban on recreational marijuana sales resulting from a related 2018 town meeting vote. Following certification of the required number of signatures, a warrant article asking voters to allow an existing registered marijuana dispensary in Hull to add adult use retail sales would appear on the warrant. In addition, voters at the special town meeting would be asked to approve additional funding of up to $800,000 to cover increases in the cost of restoring the Fort Revere water tower. An additional article would also adjust Hull’s wetlands protection rules in response to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Hull Police Sgt. Scott Saunders was placed on paid administrative leave after being arrested in Pembroke for assaulting a 72-year-old neighbor on July 24. Saunders was charged with assault and battery on a person over 60 with injury. After his arraignment, he was released on personal recognizance and ordered to stay away from the victim. Saunders was hired by the Hull Police Department in December 2004 and has been a sergeant since 2019.

A long-awaited decision by a Massachusetts Land Court judge determined that Graves Light is not within Hull’s boundaries and its owners do not owe property taxes to the town. The 50-page decision included a detailed analysis of historic records stretching as far back as the Colonial Land Grants from 1634 and multiple maps, deeds, and other documents.

A group of Hull residents, led by members of the Hull No Place for Hate Committee and town officials, braved rainy weather take a stand against acts of hate on Nantasket Beach. The gathering was in response to a swastika found on the beach near A Street.

Unexpected repairs to the entrance to the Memorial Middle School would change how students and staff accessed the building when school started in August. Voters at the special town meeting would be asked to spend $300,000 to stabilize the top of the front portico.

Hull Public Library Director Diane Costagliola announced that she would be leaving to take a position as the new director of the library in Sandwich. Costagliola, who was hired in large part due to her extensive library services experience, earned respect and affection for her energy and creativity at the Hull Public Library during the past two and-a-half years.

SEPTEMBER

A majority of the more than 400 voters attending the Aug. 31 special town meeting soundly defeated a request for roughly $600,000 to cover the increased cost of restoring the town-owned Fort Revere water tower. The request for funds was in addition to the 2022 town meeting appropriation of $2.2 million for tower repairs. The town would now evaluate how to proceed with the project with the original budget amount. Town meeting voters approved an initial $300,000 for emergency repairs to Memorial Middle School and $120,000 to replace two pieces of equipment that regulate water flow in the drainage lagoon at Draper Avenue and Newport Road. Voters also supported allowing the sale of recreational marijuana in Hull. The meeting wrapped up in three-and-a-half hours, expedited by electronic voting.

The unexpected discovery of ammunition left over from a police training exercise caused a lockdown on the first day of classes at the Memorial Middle School. The training round had been used in an active-shooter drill earlier in the summer. Training rounds do not have the capability to leave the barrel.

It was a big month for water rescues. Hull Fire Department personnel were called to rescue several people in distress in the water near the former Beach Fire restaurant after they misjudged the timing of the tides. Fire Department staff used their training on water rescues to bring this incident to a successful resolution, as all three people were brought ashore without injury. On two separate occasions in August, beachgoers became rescuers at Nantasket Beach when they jumped in to save people who found themselves in trouble in the water.

The school committee established a draft timeline for hiring the next Hull Public Schools superintendent, with a selection expected to be made by the end of January and a start date of July 1. Current Superintendent Judith Kuehn is retiring at the end of the school year. The New England School Development Council, based in Marlborough, has been hired to facilitate the search.

The beachfront was packed as the crowds came out for the Endless Summer Waterfront Festival, which featured great food, music, games, and all kinds of family fun. The excitement continued with the Nantasket Beach Car Show, which raised funds for local charities and Cops for Kids with Cancer.

The Friends of the Paragon Carousel held its annual Derby Day fundraiser to support the organization as it entered the winter season.

Peddocks, a purebred Labrador Retriever, joined the Hull Police Department as a comfort dog to support students and others in the community by helping to reduce stress and promote wellness in the schools and at town events. The department acquired Peddocks, who is named after the Boston Harbor island, with assistance from a $5,000 grant from the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office. The first comfort dog to serve the Hull Police, 11-month-old Peddocks underwent his comfort dog training at Professional Canine Services in Middleboro and has already gotten down to business. His handler is Hull Police Officer Leanne Marshalsea.

The planning board approved a definitive subdivision plan for the new development at the site of the former Atlantic Aquarium. Filing a subdivision plan locks in current zoning for eight years.

OCTOBER

Demolition of the former Atlantic Aquarium at the foot of Atlantic Hill began and construction of the 21-unit residential building that will replace it moved forward with the anticipated arrival of a building permit. Contractors began demolishing the concrete-block building, constructed in 1972, from the inside out.

The Hull Redevelopment Authority began hearing presentations from citizens on ideas for the development of its property. Several pitches would be heard at HRA meetings over the course of the month. Of the 20 citizen submissions, 10 pitches were given.

Boats awaited the start of the Head of the Weir race in the estuary and come ashore near the boathouse at Pemberton Point. Hull Harbormaster Kurt Bornheim and other public safety officials were out on the water to keep racers safe, while back at the Boathouse Bistro, members of the Rotary Club and other volunteers kept racers and spectators fed with a selection of hearty soups.

The Hull Fire Department purchased and installed the town’s fourth public automated external defibrillator [AED], which can be used to help people experiencing sudden cardiac arrest, at the Dust Bowl field in the Village. The other AEDS are at the Kenberma courts, L Street Snack Shack, and Hull High School/Emma Ryan Walking Track.

A standing-room only crowd packed the first Design Review Board meeting introducing a revised proposal for the Paragon Dunes development. Residents in attendance expressed concern about design and density of the buildings.

A new director of the Hull Public Library was hired. Brian DeFelice, former assistant director of the Scituate Town Library, would begin in November. The selection committee included Town Manager Jennifer Constable, a library trustee, and select board member Jason McCann.

Residents who live near the Hampton Circle Playground remained concerned about longstanding problems with flooding, rain pooling, and poor drainage, problems that they said have been made worse by the town’s addition of fill during the reconstruction of the site.

NOVEMBER

The town received nearly a million dollars in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for the restoration of the outfall pipe at the sewer plant.

The select board voted to maintain a single tax rate for residential and commercial properties during the annual tax classification hearing for FY24, following the recommendation of the board of assessors. The average residential property owner could expect a 3.4%, or $237.52, increase in fiscal 2024 taxes, while the tax on commercial properties was expected to increase by 4.5%, or $366.51.

The Hull Redevelopment Authority decided not to move forward with a definitive subdivision application to freeze zoning on its land for eight years. Instead, the HRA would submit another preliminary subdivision, holding the current zoning in place for seven months while the board continued to review the citizens’ submissions regarding uses of the land.

Veterans Day events included the traditional ceremony at the war memorial at Monument Square on November 11, and a special dinner for veterans and guests sponsored by the Nantasket-Hull Rotary Club and The Parrot.

Several hundred generous volunteers cooked, served, boxed, and bagged almost a thousand Thanksgiving dinners and delivered them, along with bags of donated groceries, to grateful South Shore residents. Also, several hundred more free meals were enjoyed by a large gathering at Daddy’s Beach Club in the spirit of the season.

The results of the 2023 Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exam administered to students in grades 3 to 8 and 10 indicated that there was room for improvement, administrators told the school committee. Overall, students’ post-pandemic performance was showing signs of recovery, with further work needed to accelerate their progress, according to Director of Curriculum and Assessment Christine Cappadona. The year 2023 represents a return to the full state accountability system aimed at improving student performance at all levels since 2019, due to learning losses from the COVID19 pandemic restrictions and school closures.

The crowd attending the annual Thanksgiving bonfire on the Hull Redevelopment Authority property had to stand far back from the intense heat from the flames as one of the largest fires in recent memory lit up the night. Hullonians enjoyed celebrating both the holiday season and the Hull Pirates’ 10-3 victory over the Cohasset Skippers in the Turkey Day football game.

DECEMBER

A standing-room-only crowd packed the meeting room at Hull High School and criticized the latest proposal to build a 40-foot-tall, 132-unit building at the Paragon Boardwalk property across from Nantasket Beach. Residents told the planning board that they wanted to make sure that the development reflected the character of a seaside community while creating a welcoming entrance into town. The key findings of the Design Review Board were that the proposed site lacked adequate public open space and functional parking, and that the building scale overshadowed the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s comfort station and Paragon Carousel complex.

Town Manager Jennifer Constable suggested to the select board that Hull delay action on applications to sell recreational marijuana until new state regulations could be reviewed. Town Counsel James Lampke originally was scheduled to present an update on the process for approving Host Community Agreements with retail marijuana sellers, but Constable recommended that the state Cannabis Control Commission’s new rules and regulations be reviewed to ensure the town’s zoning and general bylaws were in compliance.

The town prepared for the holiday season as Hanukkah and Christmas came. Candles were lit, lobster trap and buoy Christmas trees went up, and decorations shone throughout town. Flying Santa made his annual stop at the Hull Lifesaving Museum, circling Boston Light in a helicopter before landing on the beach near the Spinnaker Island bridge. He was escorted by Hull Police officers to the museum, where he greeted the public.

The townwide winter generators were installed along George Washington Boulevard and tested briefly. The generators provide backup electricity when the transmission lines serving Hull are affected by an outage. They are not able to supply power to spot outages within the town. A subsequent storm would put Hull Emergency Management and Hull Light line workers to the test as they worked into the night to repair localized outages throughout town despite high winds and heavy rain.

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Public invited to meet finalists for superintendent on Jan. 10

The screening committee reviewing applications for Hull’s next superintendent of schools has narrowed the field to three finalists. The names of the finalists will be announced at the school committee’s meeting on Monday, Jan. 8.

All three candidates will participate in a site visit to the district, as well as a series of interviews, on Wednesday, Jan. 10. Candidates will first rotate through three community and staff forums in the afternoon and then will interview with the school committee in the evening. 

Members of the community, students, and staff members are invited to meet the finalists and ask questions at forums to be held at the high school between 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.

The interviews in the evening will be an open forum and community members may email feedback to Maggie Ollerhead, mollerhead@town.hull.ma.us, who will compile the comments for the school committee. All input will be considered, but school committee members will not respond to emails directly. 

The schedule will be broken up into three 25-minute sessions: 

3:00-3:25 p.m. Candidate 1 (Students), Candidate 2 (Staff), Candidate 3 (Community)
3:30-3:55 p.m. Candidate 2 (Students), Candidate 3 (Staff), Candidate 1 (Community)
4:00-4:25 p.m. Candidate 3 (Students), Candidate 1 (Staff), Candidate 2 (Community)

4:30-5:00 p.m. Break

Over Zoom:
5:00-6:00 p.m. School Committee Interview Candidate 1
6:15-7:15 p.m. School Committee Interview Candidate 2
7:30-8:30 p.m. School Committee Interview Candidate 3

Hull Community Television will record the candidate interviews with the school committee.

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Remembering Hull’s biggest issues and memorable newsmakers of 2023 – Part 1

Compiled by The Hull Times staff

JANUARY

The select board voted to retain a consultant to assist in the search for a replacement for Town Manager Philip Lemnios, who would retire on June 30 after more than 25 years of service to the town. The new town manager would begin work at the beginning of Fiscal 2024.

The select board supported the Affordable Housing Committee’s request to file a grant application to participate in the Municipal Engagement Initiative program in partnership with the Citizens Housing and Planning Association, with a focus on bringing together local businesses, houses of worship, civic groups, and individuals to build coalitions of support for affordable housing production.

The owners of the Paragon Boardwalk presented a revised development plan to the select board that called for a six-story, 142-unit residential building and two levels of commercial space – 26 units larger and one story higher than their previous proposal for the property. In 2021, the owners withdrew their application for the proposed Dunes project that was to include 116 residential units in a five-story building adjacent to the Boardwalk, along with limited commercial space.

The Hull Council on Aging was awarded funding to support older adults’ behavioral health needs through the Massachusetts Association of Councils on Aging. Through a contract with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs, the Hull senior center would partner with a group of mental health resources to address the mental health needs of older adults.

The school committee voted 4 to 1 in favor of taking the first step toward consolidating Hull’s three schools – housing Pre-K through 6 at Jacobs Elementary School, grades 7 and 8 at Memorial Middle School, and grades 9 through 12 at the high school – for the 2023-24 school year. This meant that fifth-graders who would normally move on to the middle school would remain at the Jacobs for sixth grade. The final reconfiguration plan called for the Jacobs School housing grades PreK to 7 and the high school grades 8 to 12, starting with the 2024-25 school year. This would leave the middle school building available for possible municipal or other educational uses.

Hundreds of hardy souls braved the cold water of the Atlantic in two separate polar plunge fundraisers. In January, The Plunge for Wellspring attracted spectators who lined the seawall to watch the swimmers hit the water. A second event, held in February, helped raise money for The Anchor of Hull with a polar plunge at Pemberton Pier.

Hull Public Schools won a $20K grant to fund a mental health helpline for Hull students and adults, entering a partnership with Interface Referral Service, a mental health resource. The program would offer referrals for outpatient health services through a helpline that is available weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

FEBRUARY

Residents crowded into the Hull High School exhibition room to hear the first in a series of six public presentations on the Hull Redevelopment Authority’s Urban Renewal Plan for potential development of its 13-acre parcel. The draft plan envisioned several uses for the property, which stretches from Water Street to Phipps Street. In-person and Zoom presentations were scheduled for February, March, and April.

The owners of the Nantasket Flatts restaurant announced that they would close permanently and were in talks with another food-service operation to take over the beachfront space.

The Community Preservation Committee unanimously endorsed six requests for funding that would be considered by voters in the spring town meeting. The projects included $1.5 million to renovate the Village Fire Station, $99,000 for the Hampton Circle Playground, $55,000 to repair the L Street Playground and tennis courts, as well as $30,000 for playground shade structures, $70,000 to restore the Paragon Carousel windows, and $28,000 for a waterfront access consultant.

Community Paradigm Associates was hired to conduct the search for a new town manager. The process would include creating a screening committee, advertising, conducting surveys, and interviewing candidates.

Craig Wolfe was honored for his service to the town and to local veterans’ causes. Wolfe works for the American Red Cross as a disaster-relief coordinator and is well-known around town for his involvement in community programs that help his neighbors. Veterans Services Officers from surrounding towns joined the local veterans group to pay tribute to him.

Select Board Chair Jennifer Constable announced her resignation after serving on the board for seven years, stating that her involvement with the Hull community would continue. Constable’s stepping down followed Town Manager Philip Lemnios’s announcement that he planned to retire on June 30. During an earlier select board discussion about next steps in the town manager search and interviews with two consulting firms, Constable either recused herself or was not present.

The proposed $47.5 million Fiscal 2024 budget included $130,000 for a new assistant town manager position, and a continuing commitment to the Council on Aging by increasing staff hours to reflect the growing demand for services and programming. The overall budget proposal, crafted by Lemnios and Town Accountant Michael Buckley, represented a $1,997,348 increase over FY23’s $45.5-million figure, or a 4.39% total increase.

The Hull Redevelopment Authority voted to modify its potential development in response to residents’ feedback on the draft Urban Renewal Plan, deciding to focus on an option containing more open space.

MARCH

The planning board approved, with conditions, the site plan for redevelopment of the former Marylou’s building on Atlantic Avenue, at the intersection with School Street.

Ed McCabe retired from his role as maritime program director of the Hull Lifesaving Museum after more than 40 years of service.

The select board increased the annual permit fee charged to parking lot operators from $10 to $50 per space and set the same parking permit conditions as in 2022 for the Hull Redevelopment Authority lot. The conditions included a maximum of 500 spaces.

Five-term member of the select board Domenico Sestito issued a statement that he would not run for another term. He thanked the town, its voters, and his family.

After a contentious debate, the select board elected Vice Chair Donna Pursel to serve as chair until the May town election. Retiring select board member Domenico Sestito also ran for the position.

The Hull Redevelopment Authority filed a preliminary subdivision application with the planning board, which started the clock on an eight-year zoning freeze on the 13-acre property. The procedure would allow the authority the option to continue its ongoing review of development options under its draft Urban Renewal Plan, regardless of whether voters approved an article on the May town meeting warrant to rezone the HRA property as open space.

The Hull Nantasket Chamber’s first annual St. Patrick’s Celebration featured shenanigans all over town, including musical performances, Irish step-dancing demonstrations, and a traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner. Hull senior citizens were hosted at the Parrot for dinner and dancing.

Volunteers swarmed Nantasket Beach to plant 15,000 culms of beach grass in order to stabilize the sand dunes on the town-owned section of the beach, from Phipps Street northward. Volunteers have planted grass each spring since 2006.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency determined that Hull property owners would qualify for a 15% discount for most National Flood Insurance Program policies issued or renewed on or after Oct. 1, 2023. The results of the NFIP Community Rating System field verification allowed Hull to retain its current CRS rating.

A seven-member committee comprised of town officials and two citizens was created to work with the consultant searching for Hull’s next town manager. Membership on the committee would consist of two select board members and one each from the advisory board and school committee, a department head to be named by the other department heads, and two members of the community. Select board members Irwin Nesoff and Greg Grey and advisory board member Patricia Cormier were appointed to the committee. Roger Lewenberg and Kim Roy were later appointed to fill the two community member openings.

A representative of a citizens group opposed to development on the Hull Redevelopment Authority land asked the select board to place a non-binding question on the May town election ballot about the future of the 13-acre parcel. The proposed question would ask voters whether they think the HRA property should be used as open space and recreation or for residential and commercial development. The board would later respond to a request from the Hull Redevelopment Authority asking it to hold off on placing the question on the ballot, and would agree to do so, calling any such ballot question premature.

The Hull Municipal Light Board discussed the status of Hull’s wind turbines. They noted that Hull Wind 1 at Pemberton Point is inoperable and there has been another failure of Hull Wind 2. The board noted that the company that built the machines has left the Northeast and getting parts is more difficult.

A citizens’ petition warrant article for the May town meeting proposed to restrict development by changing the zoning of a large section of the Hull Redevelopment Authority’s property to open space.

APRIL

First-grade teacher Lindsey Rajan was appointed the new assistant principal of the Jacobs Elementary School. Rajan, who has taught in Hull since 2016, would begin her new duties in July.

The planning board unanimously approved, with conditions, a Brookline developer’s plan to tear down the former Atlantic Aquarium and replace it with a four-story, 21-unit residential building. Both the project’s special permit and developer Jonathan Levitt’s filing of a preliminary subdivision plan received favorable action. The preliminary subdivision was automatically approved because under Massachusetts law, that was the only course of action. The filing of the subdivision does not change the proposal, but freezes the current zoning for at least eight years, meaning that any town meeting action to change the property’s zoning would not immediately take effect.

The Hull Redevelopment Authority announced plans to delay its third set of public meetings from late April until the end of May so the HRA could refine its draft Urban Renewal Plan while incorporating public feedback.

US Marine Corps veteran Bill Leary was honored at the monthly veterans’ coffee hour with certificates of recognition from Massachusetts State Senate, House of Representatives, and an award from the select board for his service to veterans.

The Hull Lifesaving Museum’s signature rowing race, the 42nd annual Snow Row, took place at the Windmill Point Boathouse. Rowers enjoyed a beautiful day with calm seas and blue skies. The race was originally scheduled for March, but weather conditions forced its postponement.

After serving for 17 years on the school committee and deciding not to run for re-election, Stephanie Peters was honored for her dedication and hard work by a large turnout of students, staff, sports team members, friends, and family during her last meeting.

MAY

Nearly 400 voters took 12 hours over three nights to work through a 26-article annual town meeting warrant at the high school. For the first time, an electronic voting system using clickers was implemented. Voters approved the inclusion of $130,000 to pay for an assistant town manager in the Fiscal 2024 budget. There was a “no action” vote on the Accessory Dwelling Unit article, and the proposed open-space zoning for the HRA parcel was defeated. Voters also approved spending up to $986,802 from one-time American Rescue Plan Act funds for design and construction of improvements to the sewer treatment plant. Also approved by voters was an article that removes the room/bedroom maximum within residential units in mixed-use buildings in the business district, providing developers with the option to construct family-sized units. Voters said “no” to instituting limits on the time served by select board members.

A three-alarm fire on Q Street closed main roads for two hours during the May town election’s voting window. Voting hours were extended by two hours to make up for the closure. Early results showed that Jason McCann, Jerry Taverna, and Brian McCarthy were the top vote-getters for seats on the select board. Chair Donna Pursel, who ran for re-election, came in fourth. Pat Finn and Adrienne Paquin had the most votes for seats on the Hull Redevelopment Authority.

The certification of election results and seating of new officials was put on hold after a judge denied the town’s request to count votes cast after the 8 p.m. on voting day. The town had asked a Brockton Superior Court judge to issue an emergency order validating the extension of voting hours. The judge denied the request. None of the winning candidates would be sworn into office until the matter was resolved.

The seven-member search committee and Community Paradigm Associates interviewed the semifinalists for the town manager position, leading up to an announcement of the three finalists. Chosen from a pool of 21 candidates that was narrowed down to six semifinalists, the semifinalists were former Select Board Chair Jennifer Constable, Peter Caruso of Scituate, and Thomas Guerino of Vermont.

JUNE

A Plymouth Superior Court judge ruled that all votes cast in the May town election would count – including the 80 or so cast between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. – and granted approval for a limited reopening of the polls. Town Clerk Lori West announced that the polls would reopen for two hours on June 13 to accommodate voters who could not get to them due to a blocked road on Election Day. Any voter who did not cast a ballot on that date could also vote on June 13. Voting would occur between 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., the approximate time of the detour around the May 15 fire.

Nearly five months after presenting plans to redevelop the Paragon Boardwalk property to the select board, the developer would formally ask the Zoning Board of Appeals for a height variance. The Procopio Companies of Middleton submitted plans for a 75-foot-tall building with 142 residential units, as well as a three-story commercial structure and an attached one-story deck. The maximum allowable height in the Nantasket Beach Overlay District is 40 feet.

Hull residents turned out in force to honor those who gave their lives in service to the country on Memorial Day, with the traditional parade stepping off at the high school and ending at the Gold Star Mothers Memorial at Hull Village Cemetery. Volunteers ensured that the cemetery was well decorated with flags in advance of the ceremony. Following the Memorial Day ceremony at the Hull Village Cemetery, several memorial squares were dedicated to veterans on streets near their former residences.

Hull High’s senior class had a busy couple of weeks to end their final year of school, with the traditional photo session at Mariners Park prior to the prom at Granite Links, a visit to where it all began at the Jacobs Elementary School, and graduation ceremonies on June 3.

The month-long uncertainty over the results of Hull’s annual town election came to a close as 382 more people cast their ballots in a court-ordered extension of voting hours. The new voting totals flipped the race for a five-year seat on the Hull Redevelopment Authority, giving the spot to Daniel Kernan over Patrick Finn. In addition, the school committee results also were clarified, as write-in candidate Regan Yakubian won the second seat on the school committee with 1,110 votes, behind incumbent Ernest Minelli with 1,204.

One day after voting concluded, three new select board members – Jason McCann, Jerry Taverna, and Brian McCarthy – attended their first meeting, participating in the unanimous vote to elect Greg Grey as chair, Irwin Nesoff as vice chair, and McCann as clerk.

The select board named former Select Board Chair Jennifer Constable as Hull’s first new town manager in 16 years. Following a more than one-hour interview, Constable was unanimously named to the position. The other two finalists, Peter Caruso and Thomas Guerino, also underwent extensive interviews during the four-hour meeting.

The select board appointed Police Chief John Dunn acting town manager and approved a proposal by retiring Town Manager Philip Lemnios to provide interim consulting services until his replacement, Constable, began her duties later in the summer. Dunn would maintain the day-to-day operations of the town and attend select board meetings. Lemnios would work about 15 hours weekly as a consultant and would be paid a flat fee of $2,250 per week.

The travels of a black bear, nicknamed 24Bravo by public safety officials, captured the imaginations of Hull residents as the bear briefly visited the southern part of town, traveling from West Corner through the woods near the Hall Estate before swimming across the river to World’s End.

Watch next week’s edition for a review of the top news stories of the second half of 2023.

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Community helps local centenarian celebrate her 100th birthday milestone

By Dolores Sauca Lorusso

Longtime Hull resident Florence Herman says she is excited to be turning 100 years old just before the New Year.

Her great-niece, Brooke Shoostine, invited Hull residents to help celebrate the milestone by singing “Happy Birthday” on Saturday, Dec. 30 at 10:30 a.m. outside her great-aunt’s house at 6 Warren St.

THROUGH THE YEARS. Florence Herman in her 40s (BELOW), and today. She will turn 100 this weekend. [Dolores Lorusso photos]

Shoostine encouraged people to wear costumes, hold up celebratory signs, and bring instruments to play a song or two.

The Herman family began summering in Hull 64 years ago, and Florence has been living in Hull full-time in that home with her youngest daughter for 13 years. Herman lived in Florida for 30 years, but returned to Hull because “everyone was dying.”

The downside of living to be 100 is you lose a lot of people along the way. Herman’s sister Dolly, died at 94 this past spring, and that was “hardest” for her.

“[It’s] not easy to live and have people dying…a lot of things happen in life and you have to learn to deal with them,” she said.

One upside of living a long life, Herman said, is “the older you get, the more you experience things and the smarter you get.”

Herman survived two episodes of cancer and said she has been “very fortunate in life…I had cancer two times and licked it. I am a fighter. I am a survivor.”

She also has seen the world change over the years, including many inventions that are now common, such as television, movies with sound, electric traffic signals, frozen food, copy machines, and penicillin. She has seen the telephone go from rotary, to push button, to mobile. Typewriters changed to computers, and music went from being played on records to 8-track tapes to cassettes to CDs, and now is streamed.

She attributes a large part of her survival to her positive attitude.

“I had to be positive living through radiation and chemo,” she said, adding that her mother lived to be 94 years old, so she has “good genes.”

She also said she played bridge her whole life, which “makes you have to think and remember.” A self-described people person, she also played bridge at the senior center for many years and enjoyed playing with a variety of people.

During her lifetime, Herman traveled often and likes “to see it all.” She said her favorite place is Italy. “I have been to Italy two times. I like the food, the people,” she said.

This centenarian has no plans of stopping as she turns 100.

“Every day is special… I am not ready to go,” said Herman. “I am lucky when I get sick, I bounce back like a bouncy ball.”

Her youngest daughter said, “she always used to tell me and my sister to ‘never give in or give up,’ and she lived that.”

The lifelong lover of “cooking and eating” good food said her biggest accomplishment was losing weight, going from a size 14 to a size 10. Her favorite foods are Chinese and corned beef sandwiches.

“Once I made up my mind, I just did it,” said Herman of her weight loss. “I also quit smoking in my 40s.”

She was married to her first husband, Raymond Herman, at the age of 20.

“The first thing we did when we bought this house in Hull is put up a flag, and we still put one up in remembrance of him,” she said.

Raymond died in 1988 and she met “another gem of a man,” David Vanderhorst. “I was very fortunate to have two wonderful men in my life,” Herman said.

Herman said she has two daughters, two granddaughters, and one great-granddaughter.

“I enjoyed doing a lot in life…I light my own fire,” said Herman, who looks back on her years and finds them to be “very nice; a lot of good memories.”

Herman’s advice to younger people is three-fold: “Don’t smoke; if you drive, do so carefully; and don’t let anyone walk all over you.”

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Ready for new beginnings: How Hullonians marked the season a century ago

By John J. Galluzzo

Five years past the end of the Great War, America seemed to be resetting itself. Although the shock of all shocks – the in-term passing of a president – caused concern over the summer, the year seemed to be one of births, of new trends, of new ventures and forays into brave new worlds.

On March 2, a new magazine, simply titled “Time,” hit newsstands with its inaugural edition. On April 4, Jack, Harry, Sam, and Albert Warner incorporated their film studio under the name Warner Brothers Pictures. Two days later, trumpeter and crooner Louis Armstrong made the first recording of his soulful New Orleans jazz music. On April 18, baseball’s New York Yankees opened their new ballfield in the Bronx, Yankee Stadium.

On July 13, a bold series of block letters on Mount Lee, overlooking Los Angeles, California, marked the location of a pending housing community to be known as Hollywoodland (the sign would later be shortened by four letters). On October 16, two young men, Roy and Walt Disney, formed a company of their own. The day before, fans of the five-time World Series champion Boston Red Sox received the news that those pesky Yankees had beaten the New York Giants to win their first title. Sox fans knew that it was probably a fluke, and that their team, who last won the championship in 1918, was long overdue for their next World Series appearance.

On Halloween, the last of the Hull steamers, the Rose Standish, was pulled off the Nantasket-to-Boston run for the season, heading for winter quarters in the city at 5:20 p.m. The ladies of the ship, though, would not let the occasion pass without a grand send-off. Inviting the officers of the steamer and their families, as well as the officers and families of the other Hull steamers – the South Shore, Myles Standish, and Mayflower – the ladies threw a joint Halloween and farewell party that included a banquet, speeches, the crooning of Irish melodies by Mate Cornelius McCarthy and fancy dancing by the Misses Florence and Elizabeth Ladrigan.

By no means was it the only Halloween party given that evening. More than 300 guests of the Father O’Brien Memorial Association gathered at the new Municipal Building on Atlantic Hill for a “character party” that included a grand procession and costume contest, easily won by Miss Virginia Murphy. She dressed as a “lady of the olden times,” and had an easy time winning; her clothes were more than 200 years old. At midnight, another symbol of the changing seasons, the switch from summer to winter police forces, took place.

News the next day included the fact that Bank Commissioner Joseph C. Allen would hear the request of a group of 20 local men, led by Selectman Clarence V. Nickerson, to incorporate a Hull cooperative bank in mid-November. Nickerson would soon have another issue with which to wrestle. That same day, November 1, two girls were riding home from the Damon School on the bus, standing in the aisle talking to friends, when suddenly a door opened and the girls tumbled out and fell six feet to the street. Rushed to the Metropolitan District Commission headquarters, they were pronounced none the worse for wear, but Selectman Nickerson wanted answers. Since he was also the superintendent of schools, he would look into the matter personally.

On November 4, Raymond W. Gent, Hull resident and general man about town, saw his name in The Boston Globe, signing a letter he had written to the radio editor. With radio the new craze sweeping the nation, Gent was an early adopter. He described his set and said, “WNAC Boston comes in so loud and clear I cannot keep phones to my ears. Saturday’s broadcast of the Dartmouth-Harvard game was listened to with three pairs of receivers resting inside of a large bowl and could be heard in the room quite distinctly. For distance, I have received stations in the following cities: Minneapolis, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Harrisburg, Pittsburg, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Troy, Springfield, and Providence.” If Gent stayed tuned in for a few more weeks, he could hear Calvin Coolidge, former Hull Village summer resident, become the first president ever to address Congress over the air, in early December.

Three days later, the Point Allerton Coast Guard Station crew launched a rescue attempt. Scituate lobsterman Harry Driscoll, 30, was tending his traps when the motor on his boat died. He hoisted a distress signal, which the station caught. But, before they could reach him, darkness set in and they lost sight of him. A severe storm blew in overnight and the Coast Guardsmen feared the worst. The next morning, however, the crews of the Coast Guard Cutter Ossipee and the Nahant Coast Guard Station spotted him, rescued him and brought him to the Point Allerton station to recover.

In an odd bit of foreshadowing, Hull experienced clock problems around that time. The Village School featured a clock on its tower and during the past summer, the face had been taken down for “a thorough overhauling,” according to The Boston Globe on November 8. Remounted with a shining bronze face, the clock immediately started to lag, falling a few minutes behind. Soon it stopped altogether and the electrical display dimmed, leaving the face in darkness. Forty years later, in January 1963, the town would face another clock problem, as every Saturday night at 9 p.m., the clock on the Municipal Building would stop with a whirr and a buzz, and then run backward.

Despite the storm in the first week of November, the season remained so mild that the holiday spirit seemed slow in building. The biggest news in town concerned the pending marriage of Miss Lillian McGrath of Somerville to Hull’s William Brewster Gould “Bill” Mitchell, a two-sport star at Hingham High School, Worcester Academy, and Tufts College who also served with the Navy in the recent war. Winter club life picked up pace, as the Ladies Aid Society, the Village Parent-Teachers’ Association, the Nantasket Parents-Teachers’ Association, the Hull Woman’s Club, the Fort Revere Enlisted Men’s Club, and the Village Bridge Club all started meeting regularly. The crews constructing a new seawall at Pemberton, thanks to the sponsorship of State Representative John L. Mitchell, went to three eight-hour shifts per day in anticipation of the onset of bad winter weather. But, still, temperatures remained mild into mid-November.

The Mitchell-McGrath wedding would take place on Thanksgiving Eve, as would the benefit dance for Engine 2, Atlantic Hill Fire Station. That event took on significant importance when news reached the ears of the firemen that a member of the Oscar Smith Mitchell American Legion Post, veteran Charles Pitts, would have to lose his left leg in order to stay alive. Calling an emergency meeting, the station’s men voted to turn over all proceeds from the dance to a fund being formed by the Legion, the Legion’s Auxiliary, the Father O’Brien Memorial Association, and the Woman’s Club to support Pitts.

A groundswell of support for the formation of a Boy Scout Troop in Hull built to a crescendo on November 20. The commanding officer of Fort Revere, Captain G.H Knight, vowed to help however he could. Two days later, 33 boys between the ages of 12 and 16 voted yes to forming a troop, adopting the motto “The Best Boy Scout Troop in the State,” under the leadership of Commander Thomas Olsen, leader of the American Legion Post. By the 27th, the troop would be divided in two, one group of older boys and one younger.

Scarlet fever broke out by the 24th, with Miss Ellen Duggan, public health nurse, and town physician Dr. William Sturgis urging precautions. Just a few years removed from what was then known as the Spanish Influenza epidemic, they wanted to ensure all would be safe for the holidays. Superintendent Nickerson closed the Village grammar school well in advance of Thanksgiving, declared for the fifth Thursday of November, the 29th, by President Coolidge. Days later, Nickerson would learn that the state had denied his petition for the formatting of a Hull cooperative bank on the grounds that “public interest did not call for it.” Another group would have more success decades later.

Football games became more common in the Village as November waned, with Hull and Hingham teams squaring off, representative squads from town neighborhoods facing each other and, ultimately, the annual tilt being contested between Hull’s married men and single men on Thanksgiving Day. This year’s contest featured a special guest referee, Chief of Police Frank M. Reynolds. Gregory Ketchum, John Reno, and Kenneth G. Mitchell led the way for the unmarried men in an 18-12 victory. With the culminating game of the football season then in the past, thoughts immediately turned to the new sensation: basketball. “A movement is under way to have basketball games played this winter in town by a local aggregation,” read the Hull column in The Boston Globe of November 30. “Prominent sportsmen and others are interesting themselves in the formation of a team. Permission will be asked of the board of selectmen to allow the games to be played in the Municipal Building, Atlantic Hill.”

The next day, December 1, Margaret Knowles smiled at a blooming American Beauty rose at her home on 125 Spring St. in the Village. Although the calendar said winter, nature said spring. So, too, did the pouring of the foundation for the new war memorial at Nantasket, the dedication of which would be celebrated the next Memorial Day.

December began and ended with touches of sorrow. William Sylvester, 83, passed away at Allerton on December 2. One of the earliest residents of that section of the town, he had served as lighthouse keeper of both Boston and Minot’s Light and then spent 18 years as Hull’s postmaster. Few could remember a Hull without him.

The Boy Scouts swelled to 40 members, meeting at the Service Club at Fort Revere. Smelt started running. Hull reopened its schools on December 5, confident that the scarlet fever scare had passed. The Father O’Brien Memorial Association held a benefit party for Charles Pitts at the Municipal Building, with various forms of entertainment, including an encore fancy dancing display by the Landrigans and their students, including a bunny dance, a skating dance, and a Scottish sword dance. On December 6, Pitts returned home from the hospital where the amputation was administered, swarmed by friends and well-wishers.

Parties filled the calendar: a chicken pie supper at the Pope Memorial Church Hall, a Christmas tree fund soiree at the Central Fire Station, and the senior ball of the Class of 1924 at the Municipal Building, in honor of pending graduates Estelle Skelton, Vera Waterhouse, Lillian M. Jacobs, and others. The Ladies Aid Society, as it had for decades, held its pre-Christmas sale of homemade goods at Gould Memorial Hall. Christmas was on its way, and there was no turning back.

The rule apparently didn’t apply for two men who found a novel way to get arrested in the final two weeks before Christmas. Late on December 11, residents of the Skull Head section of the bayside called Chief Reynolds and told him of a strange disturbance. Hull Police Officers Thomas Glawson and Francis Mitchell responded and found an automobile driving on the rocky shore. The driver – drunk as a skunk – made a wrong turn. “They were bound for Brockton from Boston,” said The Boston Globe the next day. “In proceeding along Nantasket Ave. they turned down A St. at Waveland, taking the outside road bordering on Hull Bay. Mistaking a small path leading to the beach for a highway they turned their car in and landed on a beach.” Cut across the face when their windshield exploded, they nevertheless pressed on, undaunted. “Thinking that they were on a rough road,” said the Globe, “they endeavored to proceed along the beach until apprehended by the police.”

On December 16, a fire broke out on Nantasket Road, the result of an iron left plugged in when the family was away. More concerning, though, was the false alarm pulled at Windermere a few hours later. Fire Chief Henry Stevens launched a quick investigation and apprehended a soldier from the 13th Infantry at Fort Revere. He delivered him to the commanding officer and told him that he would let the military decide what to do with him, wanting to spare him the stress of multiple court hearings and courts-martial.

On the 17th, the Hull Village Club met for the first seasonal gathering at the Nantasket House, next door to the Hull Public Library. A familiar face, Mike Burns, returned to his inn on the corner of Nantasket Avenue and Nantasket Road with his son Russell after a vacation to the Pacific coast. That Friday, the 21st, Hull students celebrated the beginning of the Christmas break with gifts for all and a noon release.

Over the weekend, the three Catholic churches in Hull – St. Mary’s of the Bay, St. Ann’s, and St. Mary’s at Green Hill – were visited by Santa Claus, or, Clauses. Priests at each church spoke on “The Origin of Santa Claus” and “The Spirit of Christmas.” Santas – Wallace Reddie, John E. Glawson, and Edward Gent – appeared in costume and handed out presents to all of the children in each church. In all, the church provided about 500 gifts to local kids.

On Christmas Eve day, James McLearn of X Street picked two pansies from his garden. John E. Rudderham, putting up his storm windows, just in case, heard two American Robins singing at Bayside.

On Christmas Day, Hull families gathered to feast and share time with loved ones. Captain Fred C. Neal of the U.S. Navy rushed home Christmas Day from Brooklyn for a quick meal before setting out for a six-month cruise to India on the 26th. The Mitchells, Vautrinots, McLearns, Jameses, Murphys, Taurasis, and more Hull families enjoyed the day. On the 26th, Albert Jacobs and James Melvin, standout Hingham High School athletes, enlisted with Company K of the 101st Infantry at the Hingham Armory. Joseph Stone of Paragon Park returned from a business trip in Chicago. Petty Officer Albert Chase of the Coast Guard Station, where he had worked for the past five years, received a transfer to Chatham. He waved his many friends farewell as he entered the next phase of his life.

With little left on the calendar, Hull, too, prepared to wave goodbye, to 1923. After a quick town meeting on December 28 to shuffle funds among town departments, all eyes turned toward New Year’s Eve. Then, the saddest note of all sounded.

When the call went out for young men to enlist to fight in the Civil War, 24 Hull men stepped forward, out of a full population of about 225 residents. George Augustus, born to harbor pilot Captain John Augustus and Adeline Mary Turner, was one of those men. Serving with Company E, 47th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, he proudly wore the Union blue uniform. Returning home after the war, ne never left, working as a fisherman. As his comrades quietly vanished, one by one, he soon found himself the last remaining Hull Civil War veteran.

He wore the mantle proudly, leading Memorial Day exercises, marching through the Village to the cemetery where he would silently decorate the graves of his fallen comrades. When Hull’s young men enlisted to fight in the Great War, many claimed him as their inspiration. When they returned and formed the local American Legion Post, they invited him to be an honorary member, and never a party did he miss. Over the past few years, the younger veterans swelled his ranks and marched with him to the cemetery, as collectively they honored their brethren.

George had missed the 1923 Memorial Day exercises. He had left to visit his nephew in New Hampshire. Ultimately he stayed there. A week before Christmas, he took ill. Late on December 30, word reached Hull that he had passed away.

He took the rest of 1923 with him.

Hull was ready to turn the page and start afresh with 1924.

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HRA to study installing kiosks to collect parking fees from summer visitors

By Dolores Sauca Lorusso

The Hull Redevelopment Authority is considering changing the way it manages parking on its property next year, with members studying how to implement self-serve kiosks to collect parking fees from summer visitors.

At a recent meeting, Vice Chair Dan Kernan proposed that the board review current leases, contracts, and parking lot management. Kernan said he hopes that in 2024 to switch to a “parking kiosk service and extend property maintenance service.”

The board agreed to further research on using automated parking kiosks with human support; Kernan will gather feedback and come back to the board with a more formal parking proposal.

According to a handout Kernan provided, the “goals for this parking transition are to add visibility into the revenue and parking use, provide greater control over parking use levels and traffic, improve coordination with the town and DCR, increase revenue, and improve our parking service.”

Kernan described a parking kiosk as “the physical part of a cloud-based parking service.” Parking-As-A-Service (PAAS) generally includes the ability to accept money, including paper bills, coins, and credit cards; the ability to provide printed parking verification and pay-by-plate; provision of enforcement; the ability to control the amount of parking available; apps to let visitors know when lots are full; and detailed tracking and reports on parking use and revenue information.

“The range of services are incredibly diverse and provide greater control,” he said. “We can model after kiosks used by DCR, Trustees of Reservations, and other towns on the South Shore,” adding that companies have “solutions to map to anything we could want.”

PAAS service providers may not include property maintenance and may require that the HRA address daily cleanup and upkeep. Kernan proposed that the HRA “add nightly maintenance of parking area if needed, maintenance of improved landscaping, cleaning, and maintenance of the gazebo area.”

“It is definitely worth refining parking,” said member Bartley Kelly. “We should pick the machine that works best and be sure it falls under guidelines of legal, then bite the bullet to buy and install them. [The] first season there will also be staff, because even if it is automated, there will need to be bodies on the ground to direct traffic, cut grass, and cleanup… Going forward we can add on to it.”

Kernan said some of the parking kiosk companies offer “parking enforcement,” which he stressed is needed because “on Labor Day this year, people were parking on the sidewalk, but parking was the least of the worries for the police, they did not have the bandwidth to enforce parking because they had to deal with mischief.”

“The town has an issue enforcing parking restrictions that already exist,” Clerk Adrienne Paquin said. “Police are potentially not available to us when we need them because they are too busy.”

Many of the companies offer optimization and can watch traffic flow to adjust pricing during busy times to increase profits; however, Kernan and Paquin expressed their dislike of the “dynamic pricing” approach.

“I think that is terrible and mean-spirited,” Kernan said, indicating a preference for “reasonably fixed price for these services.”

Paquin agreed with Kernan regarding dynamic pricing. “Is the goal to provide a service to give access to the beach or to make as much money as possible?” she asked.

State-appointed HRA member Joan Senatore said that in Gloucester, people need to buy their ticket the day before because it “better controls the traffic flow.”

“I am in favor of moving forward with this. We should pilot on a smaller scale just on the Phipps Street lot,” said Paquin. “The town needs to train people to use public transportation.”

Paquin said the main lot should not be restricted and made fully available for events like the car show, carnival, and North East Public Power Association rodeo.

“Whatever we end up doing on the HRA will initiate a change for parking,” she said.

“It is trial and error…pilot the first season then have more data to evaluate other options,” said Senatore.

Kernan also suggested an update to the RFP process and seasonal for-profit leases such as those for food trucks and surf camps.

“This is something that members of the board have identified as a wanted improvement and [HRA attorney] Paula Devereaux suggested should be updated,” Kernan said. “All for-profit leases and/or RFPs should be consistent and follow the same [Massachusetts General Laws Chapter] 30B process.”

During their discussions, board members agreed it was necessary to have “clear requirements for aesthetics,” and the expected level of maintenance needs to be clarified in the RFP process.

Devereaux told Kernan that the board may include a requirement for “added transparency of revenue…however, enforcement and verification of the revenue is very unreliable.”

“The ability to capture enough data and evaluate in a credible manner is not in the realm of reality,” HRA Chair Dennis Zaia said. “I don’t put too much weight on it.”

Kernan said he would like the RFP process to give preference to local businesses if it is allowable under the law.

“There is not an all in one magic bullet…what are other outfits our size doing? Kiosks are off-the-shelf things. Everyone in the world seems to have one other than us,” said Kernan, who will continue to research parking options and update the RFP process.

At the meeting, select board member Jerry Taverna said he “applaud[s] the HRA for thinking out of the box and being willing to take a risk…this town is one we want to take a risk on.”

“We want to do the right thing and manage the processes well,” said Zaia. “Dan has gotten some clarity, and he will pull it together into a piece we can review.”

The next HRA meeting is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 8 at 6:30 p.m. over Zoom.

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Rotating exhibit at town hall highlights members of Hull Artists organization

By Carol Britton Meyer

The exhibition of local art that has graced the walls of the first floor of Hull’s municipal building for more than 15 years is an opportunity for members of Hull Artists to share their work with the community while also beautifying the surroundings for those doing business in town hall.

ON THE WALL AT HULL TOWN HALL. Hull Artists member Randy Veraguas now coordinates the rotating exhibition of local artwork in the entry hallway at town hall. [Courtesy photo]

Hull Artists member Randy Veraguas, who is now coordinating the exhibit, is following in the footsteps of artist Sheila Connor, who curated the display for many years.

“I’m excited about this new volunteer position,” she told The Hull Times. “It’s great exposure for the artists and good for the locals who stop by town hall because who doesn’t love art? And it’s free!”

The exhibit, which highlights two artists at a time, changes each quarter.

“While that’s a long time for art to hang on a wall, the [people viewing it aren’t] the normal museum audience,” Veraguas explained. Rather, this display is for the entertainment and enjoyment of the Hull residents are going in and out of town hall.

“Since nobody is going there specifically to see the art, it’s up to the individual artists to host an open house-type of event when their art goes up,” Veraguas said. When she and Bart Blumberg shared the walls, they held a small party at town hall, and Veraguas sold a few or her pieces during that event.

“That was my first art exhibit in Hull,” she said, “so it’s like going back to my roots” in this new role.

There is no particular theme to the exhibits, as any type of artwork in a frame will be considered. “The art needs to be appropriate for display in a public building and within the limited space available,” Veraguas said.

Future art display dates are: Jan. 18-April 18; April 18-July 18; July 18 to Oct. 17; and Oct. 17-Jan. 16, 2025.

In the meantime, Veraguas is reaching out to Hull Artists members to see who might be interested in participating in the January exhibit. Once that’s been decided, she will hang the artwork for the enjoyment of Hull residents over the next few months. Alongside each piece of art, a framed biography describes the artist and his or her work and the price of the piece.

“I would like to see all of the artwork sold,” she said.

For more information about Hull Artists, visit www.hullartists.com.

Veraguas noted that Hull Artists is looking for new members and will be offering classes soon. The organization promotes locally produced fine art and crafts, and Hull as a seaside arts destination, through its exhibits, workshops, partnerships, events, and a year-round gallery on the first floor of the Ocean Place condominium building.

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With 23 members among four grades, Hull High Chess Club is a success across the board

The Hull High School Chess Club kicked off its inaugural season in September and is going strong with 23 members across all four grades.

CHECK MATES. Hull High Chess Club member Will Hnath, left, competes against Cohasset High School student Dylan Jewell in the first chess tournament at Hull High School. [Photo courtesy of the Hull Public Schools]

Spearheaded by President Connor Hipp, Vice President Jake Smith, and Advisor Tara Grosso, the team meets regularly for weekly practices in the school library. The club competed in its first tournament at the high school on Oct. 12, during which the team competed in more than seven rounds against other local schools. Hull students placed second and third, while Cohasset High won the tournament.

Hipp’s inspiration for launching the club began after he served as a supervisor for the Hull Park and Recreation summer program in 2023, where camp attendees expressed interest in playing chess.

In September, Hipp began coordinating with Principal Michael Knybel to start the club. In addition to his role as president, Hipp is a member of the Physics Club, varsity baseball team, National Honor Society, and Project Humanitarian International.

Hipp also assists the school’s athletic department and serves as the Hull High School Intern Athletic Director. During his free time, he helps to train other students in the game of chess after school in the library.

“I would like to recognize Connor for his efforts to start a Hull High School Chess Club,” said Knybel. “Connor continues to go above and beyond his responsibilities as a student, and his work to create this club has helped to create an environment where students of all abilities and experience levels feel welcomed.”

The club plans to compete in its second tournament in the spring. Members include seniors Hipp, Smith, London Von Tungeln, Dylan Sabbag, Luke McDonnell, Dahlia Hedrick, Tristan Blake, Victoria Dolan, Emily Punchard, Alex Cooper, James Doty, Melanie Bodley, Bailey Her, Chase McDowell,  Ruby Schultz, Kallen Creed, Sarah Duran, and Gabi Thomas; juniors Will Hnath, Jamie Luggelle, and Rebecca Timins, sophomore Jack Miller; and freshman Andi Deltuvo.

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Climb every mountain: Hull man tackling one of the world’s tallest peaks

Last weekend, I was across the street from the Hull Yacht Club trying to get a decent photo of Flying Santa’s helicopter circling Boston Light, when I looked over my shoulder and saw the strangest sight. I’ve been photographing in Hull for decades – I don’t expect surprises!

A TIRING WORKOUT. Hull’s Vincent Brault, who is training for an upcoming mountain-climbing expedition, frequently can be seen around town with his ski poles and tire, which are part of his unique training routine. [Skip Tull photo]

But there was this man with two trekking poles wearing what looked to be a very heavy backpack, harnessed to a very large tire that he was dragging behind him. Slightly bent and leaning forward, he looked like a human draft animal. I immediately snapped a couple of photos and crossed the street to find out what I was witnessing.
In melodically, French-accented English, he told me he was training to climb one of the highest mountains in the world – Mount Aconcagua in Argentina. At 22,831 feet tall, it is the highest mountain in the Americas and the tallest outside Asia.

His name is Vincent Brault, and he and his wife, Ingrid, moved to Hull in 2020. He described their falling in love with our seaside town, its beauty and its people. He also spoke of working for many months, pulling tires behind him up and down the many hills of Hull, even back and forth the full length of Nantasket Beach, when the tides cooperated.
This coming Sunday, he and his son, Martin, a student at UMass-Amherst, will leave for Argentina. Stay tuned for a follow-up once they return!

-- Skip Tull

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Board delays action on new marijuana licenses, to hold hearing on Nantasket Flatts

By Carol Britton Meyer

At the select board meeting Wednesday night, Town Manager Jennifer Constable suggested that Hull delay action on applications to sell recreational marijuana until new state regulations can be reviewed.

Town Counsel James Lampke originally was scheduled to present an update on the process for approving Host Community Agreements with retail marijuana sellers this week, but in the “town manager updates” agenda item, Constable explained that the state Cannabis Control Commission has implemented “a host” of new rules and regulations that will need to be reviewed to ensure the town’s zoning and general bylaws are in compliance, noting that there are “a lot of questions about” those changes.

The select board will schedule a hearing on the status of the dormant licenses of the nantasket flatts restaurant, which has been closed for almost a year.

“I think we should pause before accepting any requests [for recreational marijuana host community agreements],” she said. The town has already received two – from the Alternative Compassion Services medical marijuana dispensary on George Washington Boulevard and another Hull business, Skarr Inc., owned by Mambo’s restaurant’s Anthony Ghosn – and there’s a possibility of a third application.

The select board also finalized policies for memorial bench donations and community use of public buildings, and renewed another round of annual liquor and other licenses, which expire Dec. 31. The board also will schedule a hearing on the licenses held by the former Nantasket Flatts restaurant, which has been closed for nearly a year.

Building use policy finalized

With regard to the community use of public buildings, a policy was created because the town recognizes the importance of community meeting space. The policy provides clear guidance for the use of appropriate and available town facilities.

That “public meeting space promotes community engagement and provides support to organizations serving the Hull community” is the basis of the policy. Key components include eligibility requirements, the reservation process, usage guidelines, and fees.

Community organizations are defined as non-profit, civic, or charitable organizations based in Hull that primarily serve the local community. Under the policy, such groups have the option of reserving space during regular hours in either the Hull Public Library or the Anne M. Scully Senior Center, with certain conditions in place.

Any permitted after-hours use approved by one of the directors would require a town employee to be present and a $30-per-hour fee paid for custodial and other services, which may be waived at the discretion of the director, in consultation with the town manager, on a case-by-case basis.

A number of American Legion members were present during this discussion, including David Irwin, who said he was “appalled” that the Legion, which has repeatedly expressed an interest in meeting at the senior center, would be charged that fee to meet after hours in the building once a month after the many sacrifices veterans have made for the country.

Another member pointed to the Legion’s fundraising efforts that benefit not only veterans but also other members of the community who are in need.

A warrant article at last spring’s annual town meeting supported the American Legion’s request to use that location for its meetings. However, Constable said town meeting “can’t direct a municipality on how to use a town building,” while acknowledging that the community spoke in support of veterans thorough the vote and that the board recognizes that sentiment.

The senior center will be available the first two Wednesdays of the month from 3 to 6 p.m., but the Legion meets from 6:30 p.m. for about two hours once a month on that day of the week.

Following a lengthy discussion, the board was amenable to allowing the American Legion to meet after hours at the senior center since the group has liability insurance that indemnifies the town, and a town employee who is a member will be responsible for making sure the space is cleaned up and the building is locked at the end of the meeting to avoid the $30-per-hour fee.

Select Board member Jason McCann, who worked on the creation of the policy, said the impetus came from that town meeting vote.

“This is a work in progress. I’m glad you are all here,” Chair Greg Grey told the veterans.

Written requests – including the organization’s name, purpose of meeting or event, date and time requests, estimated number of attendees, and any seating or equipment needs – must be submitted at least two weeks in advance to the director of the facility in which the organization wishes to rent space. For the library, hucirc@ocln.org and for the senior center, hullCOA@town.hull.ma.us. Reservations will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis.

The usage guidelines stipulate that approved organizations may use the two town buildings for meetings, workshops, seminars, and events aligned with their mission. No alcohol is allowed, nor is food or use of kitchen facilities without the director’s permission.

“Disruptive behavior infringing on other residents’ facility use or staff responsibilities is prohibited,” the policy states. The town reserves the right to revoke building usage privileges for policy violations.

The policy, which is effective Jan. 1, will be posted on the town’s website.

Bench donation policy approved

In other business at Wednesday’s meeting, the bench donation policy was finalized, with an application available for those who wish to have a memorial bench installed. Bench dedications are limited to current or former Hull residents unless otherwise approved by the select board. Applications will be considered in chronological order from the date they have been and will be submitted, and are subject to town manager approval.

Bench designs will be determined by the town after consideration of the location. The cost of the bench, plaque, and maintenance are the donor’s responsibility.

Licenses renewed; Nantasket Flatts hearing will be scheduled

The board also approved another group of annual liquor and other licenses, including: Mambo’s, 269 Nantasket Ave., all alcohol, common victualer, and entertainment; Mezzo Mare, 245 Nantasket Ave., all alcohol, common victualer; Nantasket Beach Resort, 45 Hull Shore Drive, all alcohol as an innholder, common victualer, entertainment; Shoreline Kitchen and Bar, 43 Hull Shore Drive, all alcohol, common victualer, entertainment; Toast, wine and malt as a restaurant, common victualer; The Parrot, 1 Hull Shore Drive, all alcohol, common victualer, entertainment; A Street Liquors, 675 Nantasket Ave., all alcohol as a package store; and common victualer licenses for the following establishments -- Dunkin’, 1B Bay St.; Dylan’s Pizza, 14 Nantasket Ave.; Hull Jade Restaurant, 516 Nantasket Ave.; L St. Pizza, 754 Nantasket Ave.; Saltwater Diner, 512 Nantasket Ave.; To Dine For, 518 Nantasket Ave.

The select board did not approve the request by Nantasket Flatts, 145 Nantasket Ave., for renewal of the restaurant’s all alcohol, common victualer, entertainment, and pool table licenses pending a hearing that will be scheduled because the business has been closed for a year, and the property is on the market, according to Constable.

The board also approved renewal of the following livery service/badges -- Bayside Coach, 71 Kenberma St., and a livery license for three vehicles for Seaport Livery Service, 58 Lynn Ave., and renewed the lodging house license for The Nantascot Lodging House, 475 Nantasket Ave.

Looking toward New Year’s Eve, The Parrot, Nantasket Beach Saltwater Club, Daddy’s Dry Rock, Sandbar, Schooner’s, Jo’s Nautical, California Underground, and the C Note all requested and received a New Year’s Eve extension of closing time until 2 a.m.

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