‘Grease’ is the word for Hull High’s fall musical on Nov. 18-20

By Victoria Dolan

Mark your calendars for Nov. 18, 19, and 20, when Hull High School Theatre Arts will perform “Grease” in the school’s Joseph C. Doniger auditorium. 

SCAN THE QR CODE TO BUY TICKETS!

The iconic show about being young in the 1950s will be the program’s first musical with co-directors Emily and Erin O’Donnell. Emily noted that part of the reason they chose to perform “Grease” was because of its history at Hull High.

“It has been done in theatre past, in Hull, and we wanted to play into that nostalgia,” she said.

“Everyone knows it,” said Erin. “They’ve all watched the movie, it’ll excite everyone.”

This excitement is what HHSTA President Lucia Foresta hopes audiences will take away from the show. Foresta, who is a senior at HHS and will play Marty in the show, says “Grease” “allows the audience to experience something that hopefully brings them joy.”

“I think it’s going to go really well,” she added. “A lot of people are excited about it.”

Foresta says the show also provides a great experience for the students involved.

“It allows them to open themselves up to people and express themselves,” she said.

The show was choreographed by Melaney Jenkins and musically directed by Hannah Hutchinson.

“It’s been fantastic,” said Hutchinson, who “can’t wait for the public to see how great the show is.” 

“This is what Hull High School is about,” said Emily O’Donnell. “We have so many people working on this together.”

Technical Director Paul Jenkins is just “excited we’re back.” A long-time participant in Hull High theater, he’s “been doing this for so many years” so post-COVID, “it’s just great to be back.”

For more information about HHSTA or to buy tickets, visit emrose499.wixsite.com/hhsta, @hulltheatrearts on Instagram, or @HullPSTA on Facebook, or scan the QR code in the accompanying graphic.

Victoria Dolan is a junior at Hull High School. This column reflects her student viewpoint. For questions or comments, please contact dolan.victorialani@gmail.com.

Veterans Day ceremony to include street dedication, student performances

By Carol Britton Meyer

Hull’s traditional Veterans Day remembrance will be held on Friday, Nov. 11, at 11 a.m. at the war memorial at Monument Square, across from Cumberland Farms.

GENERAL RICHARD ‘BUTCH’ NEAL

This year's ceremony will take place on the north (Vietnam Wall) side of the memorial facing the unnamed street that will be dedicated to the late Richard I. “Butch” Neal, a Hull native and retired four-star Marine Corps general.

This section of the road will be named “General Neal Way” at the request of the War Memorial Commission and Chair Paul Dunphy, who is organizing this portion of the ceremony, during which the street signs will be unveiled. Former Select Board member John Reilly will be the keynote speaker for the dedication.

Moving the ceremony to the north side of the memorial “will help facilitate the dedication ceremony being held immediately after the Veterans Day ceremony,” according to Director of Veterans Services Paul Sordillo, who shared the plans with the select board this week.

Father William Sexton of St. Mary of the Assumption Parish-St. Ann’s Church will give the invocation as well as the benediction, and select board Chair Jennifer Constable will also make remarks near the beginning of the ceremony. Rev. Dr. Peter Preble of St. Nicholas United Methodist Church is the guest speaker.

Police and fire department and Coast Guard honor guards will participate, with taps played by Robert Corcoran. The Hull Police Department will do a gun salute.

The governor’s proclamation will be read by Hull student Emily Irby, who will also read the poem, “In Flanders Field.”

The talented Hull High School band will play the National Anthem and “America the Beautiful” under the direction of Ian Barkon, and the VFW will honor Voice of Democracy/Voice of America essay winners from the middle and high schools if the essays are ready in time.

Sordillo will conclude the ceremony.

State Rep. Joan Meschino, Sen. Patrick O’Connor, and US Rep. Stephen Lynch also have been invited to attend.

Hull's election results mirror state, with Healey/Driscoll, O'Connor, Meschino victorious

CLICK THE IMAGE FOR HULL’S RESULTS

According to unofficial election results released tonight by Hull Town Clerk Lori West, the race for governor and lieutenant governor was won locally by Attorney General Maura Healey and her running mate, Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll, who received 3,319 votes in town, compared with 1,864 for former state Rep. Geoff Diehl and his running mate, Leah Allen.

State Sen. Patrick O’Connor and state Rep. Joan Meschino also were favored by Hull voters.

Click here for the full results, including all six ballot questions.

Wind turbines offline as light plant assesses damage; Pemberton unit is beyond repair

By Carol Britton Meyer

Both of the town’s wind turbines are out of commission and the unit at Pemberton Point needs to be removed or replaced due to damage from the elements, the light board’s chair confirmed this week.

The wind turbine at Hull High School has been not been operational since April 2021 due to its deteriorating condition, and the one at the landfill more recently due to recurring electrical issues.

When both turbines are working to capacity, the electricity generated is equivalent to 11 percent of the Hull Municipal Lighting Plant’s power portfolio.

Hull Wind 1 at the high school, which when fully operational supplies enough electricity annually to power the town’s street lights and traffic control signals as well as 220 homes, either needs to be refurbished at a cost of about $1.5 million to replace the nacelle, or upper portion, and blades or be taken down, Hull Municipal Light Board Chair Patrick Cannon told The Hull Times.

“It can’t be repaired because the technology is outdated,” he said.

Independent inspections revealed heavy pitting and deterioration of all bearing surfaces from the blades all the way to the generator, in addition to heavy surface damage to the blades due to salt spray from the ocean, according to the HMLP statement.

Hull Wind 1 was commissioned in December 2001, and turbines of that vintage have a lifespan of about 20 years.

If the turbine is refurbished, it would remain at its current height, due to Federal Aviation Administration regulations, Cannon said.

“We have received estimates for such a task and are performing a cost/benefit analysis to determine if this is a viable project to undertake,” HMLP Operations Manager Panos Tokadjian said in the recent HMLP statement. “Once we have completed the analysis, we will submit our conclusion to the light board for discussion.”

Hull Wind 2, which generates enough energy to power 800 homes on an annual basis when working at capacity, “has been given a clean bill of health,” Cannon said, but is offline due to recurring issues in the nacelle that the technical maintenance crews of the manufacturer have been unable to pinpoint or repair.

In the meantime, Vestas – the company that installed the turbine in 2006 – notified light plant officials when their agreement with the town expired last July that the company is no longer interested in doing maintenance work on the turbine.

“We have been reaching out, and we know of at least two companies that we’ll recommend to [potentially] make the repairs,” Cannon said. The cost of tracking down the problem, repairing it, and bringing the turbine back to operating condition has not yet been determined.

This issue of the turbines did come up at the Oct. 20 light board meeting under the “light board discussion on goals and objectives” agenda item, according to Cannon, but because this topic wasn’t listed on the agenda, the conversation was limited.

“We talked about current overall concerns that we need to pay attention to moving forward, and naturally the turbines were brought up,” he said. “When we plan to discuss them again, we will be sure to put it on the agenda.”

Lifelong Hullonian hopeful to meet his match as he searches for a kidney donor

By Carol Britton Meyer

Hull resident Bob White is in need of a new kidney and is reaching out to the community that he has called home for his entire life to help him find a suitable donor.

SEARCHING FOR A MATCH. Bob White, shown with canine friend Mrs. Beasley, is hopeful to find a matching kidney donor. [Skip Tull photo]

To help get the word out, a few months ago his friend Justin Goodwin made a sign for White’s truck with his name, photograph, cell phone number, and the message, “I need a kidney ASAP” and posted it on Facebook.

“That night my phone rang at 7 p.m., and it was a woman from Hull who said she had two perfectly good kidneys and would like to donate one of them to me,” White told the Hull Times. After meeting with her, the long process to determine whether her kidney was compatible began at Massachusetts General Hospital, with the outcome not yet known.

In the meantime, White, who admits he’s not very tech-savvy, received a message on his cell phone from a potential donor but deleted it by mistake.

“I’m not sure what town he was from,” he said. “I’m hopeful that someone will come forward who is compatible. I received my first new kidney from my sister 12 years ago, but now I need and would appreciate a new one. I pray every day.”

White is on dialysis Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for 5-1/2 hours each time, which he finds more challenging than he did the first time.

“I was on nighttime dialysis for 1-1/2 years before I got the transplant and then plowed snow for 24 hours and I felt fine,” he said.

Another Hull resident also expressed an interest in possibly donating a kidney, but there has been no recent word.

White, who retired from the Hull Department of Public Works four years ago, greatly enjoyed his job.

“I applied for a position with the DPW in 1977. One night before I was hired, I received a call at 11 p.m. asking me to plow snow – and I did – which led to my getting a job there,” he said.

Growing up in Hull, White had an eye-catching view of Boston Light, and later moved to his current home on Nantasket Avenue.

In the 1970s, he started lobstering in his 40-foot boat, which continued for about 20 years.

White said he “really loves life” and appreciates the care that his two sisters, Ellen Kimball and Laura Woodbury, and his partner, Leslie “Sassy” (the name her niece Lisa called her when she was unable to pronounce her real name) Sullivan, are providing for him while they remain optimistic that a kidney donor who is compatible will step forward. All three are Hull residents.

“I know a lot of people in this close-knit community, and they are very considerate and always willing to help one another,” White said.

Sullivan, White’s partner for 15 years, was with him during his first transplant.

“The first one went well, and while things are uncertain at this time, we remain hopeful. That’s all we can do. It’s a long process that won’t happen overnight,” she said. “Bob is a very hard worker. He did his job for the town, then lobstering, and he would help anyone. I feel badly now because he is low on energy, but we’re holding on to hope – that’s all we can do now – and pray.”

In the meantime, White continues to be a big NASCAR fan and enjoys spending time with Sullivan’s dog, Mrs. Beasley.

Another Hull friend, Sandie Grauds, called White ”a very generous, genuine person with such a big heart. He’s the kind of guy who would donate a kidney. I don’t want him to lose hope. I know the people of Hull and the heart they have.”

Hull to seek designation as an ‘Age-Friendly Community’ to better serve senior population

By Carol Britton Meyer

The Hull Council on Aging recently recommended that the town explore the possibility of applying for designation as an “age-friendly” community under the American Association of Retired Persons program that supports the efforts of cities and towns to be “great places for people of all ages.”

This was one of the key recommendations from the recent needs assessment aimed at enhancing the lives of Hull’s growing senior population now and in the years to come “that the select board can immediately act upon,” COA member Robert Goldstein said at a recent board meeting. “This would be an opportunity for Hull to be one of the first South Shore communities [to join the program].”

This AARP network is based on the premise that communities should provide safe, walkable streets, age-friendly housing and transportation options, access to needed services, and opportunities for residents of all ages to participate in community life. There are no membership costs.

While 43% of Hull’s population will be age 60 or older by 2035, according to the needs assessment, “this is not only about seniors. It is a way for Hull to publicly show that it is committed to making the town a livable community for people of all ages,” Goldstein said.

What the program calls “the eight domains of livability” include outdoor spaces and buildings, transportation, housing, social participation, communication and information, health services and community supports, respect and social inclusion, and civic participation and employment.

“We wouldn’t take on all the domains at once,” Goldstein said. “It would be an ongoing process.”

At the select board’s request, the COA will draft for the board’s Nov. 16 meeting a commitment letter, which is part of the process when applying for AARP Age-Friendly Community designation.

The steps include filling out an online application and a signed letter of commitment from the select board that it would implement a continuous improvement process as a member.

Town Manager Philip Lemnios acknowledged that transportation is an issue and that the board is already focusing on housing.

Select Board Chair Jennifer Constable noted that the town’s Affordable Housing Committee will reconvene soon and asked the board to add a position for a COA member on the AHC, which it did.

Among the benefits of joining the program is “access to and support on implementing a framework of continuous improvement through the lens of aging,” Goldstein said.

As the federal Clean Water Act marks 50 years, Hull continues to be a leader in taking action

Submitted by John Struzziery, Hull Director of Wastewater Operations 

It has been 50 years since the passage of the Clean Water Act (CWA) in October 1972. Anyone in this area who was around at the time remembers that Boston Harbor was one of the most polluted bodies of water in the country. Hull beaches would often get littered with debris discharged from Boston and surrounding communities.

Hull’s sewer treatment plant from above…

Much progress has been made in Boston and other major cities throughout the country. The Deer Island treatment facility is a showcase and notable example of what can happen to turn a polluted harbor into a thriving resource for boating, fishing, swimming, and aquatic life. Tremendous improvements can be seen in the waters off Hull and Boston Harbor because of these efforts.
Hull was one of the early leaders on the South Shore to take advantage of the funding that became available by the CWA and was fortunate to receive one of the early grants, funded at 90%, to construct much of our sewer system and wastewater treatment facility.

Today, we continue to upgrade and improve our investment knowing this is a long-term need that cannot be neglected. We know it is our responsibility to maintain our system and provide the cleanest water possible so that we, and generations from now, can all enjoy the most valuable resource of why we all live in Hull.
The next 50 years will continue to show marked advancements in technology that will likely change what gets upgraded and changed out as part of the next major upgrade in our system. Focus will also be on taking measures in adapting to climate change primarily related to sea level rise and by building resiliency to protect the facility.

We’re proud to be doing our part. Let us celebrate 50 years of clean water!

Busy weekend for Hull High's football, soccer, cheer squads

Catch playoff soccer action Friday & Saturday at Hull High

Two MIAA tournament soccer games will be played at Hull High this weekend.

Boys: Friday, 3 p.m. vs. Saint John Paul II

Girls: Saturday, 5:30 p.m. vs. the winner of Matignon/Frontier Regional

The boys team has made the tournament for the first time since 2009! Pictured are, in the top row: Coach Leonard, Matt Angellis, Sasha Green, Sean Walsh, Robby Casagrande, Thomas Brasil, Jonah Whelan, Ryan Maher, Nick McDonald, Connor Hipp, Max Day, Oliver Szabo, Teddy Hipp, Jack Burke, Coach O'Callaghan. Bottom row: Dillon Simpson-Sliney, Will Noonan, JT Gould, Christian Truglia, Max Lofgren, Sam Szabo, Nate Tiani, Asher Herrmann and Sam Tuchmann. Photo by Jennifer Whelan.

Undefeated Pirates to host tournament game on Friday, 11/4

TO BUY TICKETS FOR FRIDAY’S GAME, CLICK HERE!

MR. TOUCHDOWN. The Hull Pirates football team traveled to the Cape this past Saturday and defeated St. John Paul, 26-6 to improve its record to 8-0. The Pirates open the first round of the Division 8 tournament as the top seed, hosting Narragansett Regional at 7 p.m. on Friday, 11/4, at Finlayson Field at Hull Gut. Buy tickets online at this link: https://tinyurl.com/3cp23c73. This photo is from the team’s win over Sharon, as quarterback Luke Richardson connects with Austin Bongo for one of two touchdowns. [Photo courtesy of Jason Gagne]