Norton Selectmen Object to Housing Regionalization

Board says plan will hurt seniors and handicapped.

Shrinking the state’s 240 local housing authorities to half a dozen regional districts will hurt the seniors and the handicapped, Norton selectmen said Thursday. The board sharply criticized Governor Patrick’s proposed cost saving measure at their regular meeting.  “This wide change would affect thousands of people,” said selectman Bob Salvo, who is also a member of the housing authority. In Massachusetts, about 90,000 state subsidized units house low-income seniors, families, and handicapped residents. Eligible tenants pay about 30 percent of their net income. Seniors and handicapped living in state-operated housing do not pay for utilities, while others pay a portion of that cost. Norton has several state-operated congregate housing …

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Housing Authority Seeks 80k for New Generator

Equipment needed to make sure elderly have heat.

The Housing Authority and selectmen want no repeat of last year’s scenario, when senior citizens and handicapped residents living in the town’s Woodland Meadows complex went without power for days after Hurricane Irene hit.  Housing Director Andrea Downey told selectmen Wednesday the board is seeking a generator large enough to provide heat to the Woodland Meadows common room and power to the septic system lift station.  “During storms everyone gets a little panicked,” said Downey, adding if the common room was powered, it would provide a warm and lighted area during storms that appear to be getting more severe in recent years.  The complex provides 144 units of housing, mostly for elderly residents, but also for handicapped younger people…

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Six Norton Residents to Graduate from Foxborough Charter

Ceremony tonight at 6:30 p.m.

Thirty seniors will receive their diplomas from Foxborough Regional Charter School tonight. Six of those students are from Norton. Town residents Lindsey Barstow, Tyler Reese, Graham Werner, Andrew Whynacht, Stephanie Widak and Ellen Yeh will walk across the stage during the graduation ceremony, which starts 6:30 p.m. at the school, located at 131 Central St., Foxborough. This is the second graduating class that has completed their entire education, Grades K-12 at Foxborough Regional Charter School. Equally significant this year, is the fact that graduation will take place in the brand new gymnasium on campus. The new wing opened in January 2012. Allyson Rudd of Foxborough was chosen as the valedictorian and Cosette Harris of Mansfield is …

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Seniors Young and Old Gather for Senior Senior Prom [VIDEO AND PHOTO GALLERY]

National Honor Society invites EPOCH residents to dance fourth year in a row.

Seniors of EPOCH Senior Healthcare of Norton danced away with seniors of Norton High School during the Senior Senior Prom Tuesday. Run by the National Honor Society, this is the fourth Senior Senior Prom. A bus drives the seniors to the high school, where they are treated with refreshments, oldies and young men and women to cut a rug with. “It’s just really great to give back to the community, help them out, get them out of EPOCH, get them moving and doing stuff,” said David Aranjo of Norton High. “It’s a really great feeling, actually.” To see what other activities EPOCH offers to its residents, visit their website.

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LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Senior Girls Kickin' It Since Elementary School

Letter to the editor by Kerry Schubert.

Norton High Varsity Girls soccer team has qualified for the Playoffs for the third year in a row. They still have 2 games left in their regular season.  What most people do not know is that 6 of the seven seniors were also on the 2006 MTOC State Championship team. Most of these girls have been playing soccer on and off since age 6.  They have played on championship indoor, Futsal, Travel and Club teams together. It’s the quality of these six MTCO Players that have been the core of the high school soccer team.  These girls have many qualities that they bring to their team.  Briana Betts has great corner kicks, and speed that make her a great outside midfielder.  Megan Elliot has a determination to score, and has the most goals on her team. …

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HouseWorks Adds Norton Resident As Chief Financial & Administrative Officer To Newton Office

Press release

HouseWorks, a private home care company dedicated to helping seniors live independently, announced that Norton resident Jeffrey Sihpol has been named chief financial and administrative officer in the Newton headquarters. In his new role, Sihpol is responsible for HouseWorks' financial and fiscal operations. Building on HouseWorks' long history of success and innovation, he will focus on achieving new financial and operational milestones. Previously, Sihpol was U.S. controller at Boston Consulting Group. Prior to that, he held CFO positions at Global Portfolio Advisors, Ltd and Canaccord Adams Inc. He holds a dual Bachelor of Science degree in Certified Public Accounting and Business Law from Syracuse University. Quincy resident Emily Judd …

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Norton Police Investigating Possible Scam

Press release from Norton Police Department.

Norton Police Department is currently investigating a possible elderly scam in which a male approached a senior citizen and said that several trees in the yard needed to be taken down.  After discussing it, the man drove the victim to the bank and withdrew a large amount of money for the work. The work that was done was poor, not completed and overpriced. No information was given about the business other than the man had a white boom truck with “TREE SERVICE” written on it with several workers assisting. Residents and senior citizens are urged to be cautious and only deal with people they contact for the work they feel needs to be done and report anything suspicious to the police department. Anyone with any information should contact …

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AT WITTZ END

Preventing the Accident Waiting to Happen

Seniors can utilize services to help around the house and yard.

Are your parents climbing ladders and step stools because they feel they can do things themselves? Climbing the ladder to clean out the gutters or touching up the paint is something they always did and still feel capable doing. Years ago that wasn’t a problem; they were a lot younger, and much more agile and steady. But things are changing. How can you stop them from doing this before they have an accident that could put them out of commission permanently? I heard of a business the other day that is offering a pre-paid monthly service that could give you and your parents peace of mind. All the little (and not so little) do-it-yourself projects would be done without anyone in the family climbing a ladder.  All you need to do is keep a …

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Epoch Residents Enjoy Senior Prom

Assisted living residents dance away with Norton High School students.

Seniors from the Norton area were been invited to Norton High School for a special senior prom hosted by the National Honor Society Wednesday, March 23. The event has become an annual favorite with the students and residents of Epoch of Norton, who attended for the third consecutive year.

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AT WITTZ END

Who is in the Photo With Mom and Dad?

Record photo information before it is too late.

Most everyone, I am sure, has boxes filled with old photographs in our homes. As children playing in the attic or basement we looked at them. But no one looks at them now, because we do not know the people or places in the photos, and yet we keep them!    This point was driven home recently, while attending a 90th birthday party of a distant relative. The children sorted through scrapbooks, albums and shoe boxes of old photos, and then scanned the photos to create a DVD to show at the party. It was great fun looking at the photos projected on a large screen. We laughed at the hair, clothing and bathing suit styles of way back then. We recognized some of the people, but most of them were strangers to the younger generation. Even in this …

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