**OUT-OF-OFFICE:** Fellow town employees, friends, and family members gathered at the Nantasket Beach Salt Water Club on Friday to honor Janice Lichtenberger (fourth from left), office manager of the Hull Building Department, as she retired after 45 years of service. Among those celebrating with Jancie were, from left, Meghan Bennett, Eileen White, Building Commissioner Bartley Kelly, Janet Scribner, Joyce Sullivan, Terri Berardinelli, Hannah Adams, Judi Saide, and Rachel Gerold – holding Sam with siblings Maggie and Elijah Gerold in front. [Skip Tull photo]

• Congratulations to Melissa Rymaszewski, who earned dual bachelor of science degrees in environmental science and geology from the Commonwealth Honors College at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, graduating summa cum laude. Melissa has accepted a full-time position with the Massachusetts Geological Survey at UMass-Amherst.

• Salve Regina recently released its spring Dean’s List, which included two Hull students – Abigail Gibson and Erica McGowan. To qualify for the Dean’s List, students must earn a semester grade-point average of 3.6 for full-time students completing at least 12 graded credits, or a semester grade point average of 3.8 for part-time students completing at least six credits. Salve Regina is a Catholic coeducational institution in Newport, Rhode Island.

• Happy Birthday to Erica’s Dad, Sean McGowan, who celebrates on July 8.

TWICE AS NICE: Two celebrations were held at St. Nicholas United Methodist Church in Hull Village on Sunday. First was the celebration of Rev. Dr. Peter Michael Preble’s kind, committed, and compassionate service over the years, and secondly a celebration of his birthday. Parishioners gathered around Rev. Preble as they sang together at the close of the service. After the service, Rev. Preble posed outside the church with his wife, Nicky, and daughter, Oonagh. [Skip Tull photos]

• Fifth graders at the Jacobs School recently participated in hands-on water and science discovery activities as part of the North and South Rivers Watershed Association’s Water All Around You program. NSRWA’s educational team visited 12 towns, 38 schools, and nearly 3,000 students this year. Through this program, the students make discoveries about their town and its water, and form connections between human actions and how they can affect this valuable natural resource. WaterSmart is a nonprofit partnership between the NSRWA and 12 towns on the South Shore: Cohasset, Duxbury, Hanover, Hingham, Hull, Kingston, Marshfield, Norwell, Pembroke, Rockland, Scituate, and Weymouth. For more information, visit watersmartsouthshore.org.

• Save the Harbor/Save the Bay recently granted more than $300,000 to 80 community service organizations in beachfront communities in Nahant, Lynn, Revere, Winthrop, East Boston, South Boston, Dorchester, Quincy, and Hull as part of the Better Beaches Program, in partnership with the Department of Conservation and Recreation. Hull will receive $17,500 in grants to host free beach events and programs all summer long.

“Expanding access to public spaces like our beaches is one of the ways Save the Harbor makes our whole state stronger through community engagement and awareness of harbor and beach ecology,” said Massachusetts Beaches Commissioner and state Senator Patrick O’Connor.

“The Better Beaches program unlocks the potential of our local award recipients and inspires engagement with ecology by creating personal connections to our fantastic state beaches,” added state Representative Joan Meschino, vice chair of the MBC.

Since it began, the Better Beaches program has supported more than 2,100 free events and leveraged more than $7.3 million in state and local investment in waterfront communities. This year’s Better Beaches events are expected to draw nearly 500,000 attendees to 200+ free programs.

If you have news about Hull residents to share – birthdays, anniversaries, career and education achievements, weddings, births, and other milestones – send your information to us at news@hulltimes.com. If you include a photo, please be sure that everyone in the image is identified. Thank you!

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