Hopkinton Police Chief Search Committee Update

The Police Chief Search Committee has made significant progress in its work to find the next Chief of Police for the Town of Hopkinton.  “The Committee’s very deliberative approach to reviewing the candidates’ materials and credentials is meant to ensure a fair, equitable, and comprehensive process is followed in order to achieve this important goal,” says Committee Chair, Bob Levenson.

He went on to say that, “The committee was very pleased with the response to the posting, as well as with the overall quality of the applicants.”  
Each applicant’s credentials received a thorough review by the Committee, and all preliminary phone screens have been completed.   At the last Committee meeting on Tuesday, November 12, the number of candidates was narrowed down from twenty (20) to ten (10). The next phase of the process will be to begin conducting interviews, which are scheduled for early December.  At the conclusion of the interviews, the Committee will reconvene to determine which of the 10 candidates will advance to the next step.  Mr. Levenson stated:  “There is a great deal of excitement among Committee members that we could very well have a new Police Chief by the end of December, early January timeframe.”

Massachusetts School Building Authority Invites Hopkinton to Participate

This morning, representatives of Hopkinton’s School Committee (Nancy Alvarez Burdick and Ellen Scordino), Board of Selectmen (John Mosher), Center School Principal Lauren Dubeau, Elementary School Building Committee (Mike Shepard), HPS Director of Finance Ralph Dumas, State Representative Carolyn Dykema, and District Director for Senator Spilka, Puja Mehta, joined me at the MSBA Board of Directors meeting in Boston. I am pleased to announce that we have received an invitation into the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s (MSBA) eligibility period. Over the next few days we expect a letter confirming this invitation and providing additional detail.

Preliminary Eligibility Requirements will need to be completed in order for us to proceed. Once completed, the MSBA will review our documents and consider a vote to invite the Town of Hopkinton into the Capital pipeline, allowing us to begin the Feasibility Study Process. The MSBA Board of Directors noted Hopkinton’s representation at their meeting this morning, stating how important it is to have such unified support.

Press Release from Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Cathy MacLeod.

Foxwoods Loses Bet
Milford voters reject casino nearly 2-1, trumping Selectmen


Above, Milford Registrars at Milford Town Hall appear overjoyed at the end of the voting.

High School Happenings This Coming Weekend

Lots happening at Hopkinton High School this weekend and there’s something for everyone:

-- First, the award-winning Hopkinton High School (HHS) Drama Ensemble – led by outstanding drama teacher Valerie von Rosenvinge -- presents the school edition of Bye Bye Birdie.  Performances will be held at the Hopkinton Middle School auditorium on Thurs., Nov. 21 at 4 p.m.; Fri., Nov. 22 and Sat., Nov. 23 at 7:00 p.m.; and Sun., Nov. 24 at 2 p.m.  Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students and seniors.  A full orchestra including 20 HHS students will provide accompaniment for the show.

-- For sports fans, there’s the annual “Powder Puff Football Game” this Fri., Nov. 22 at 7 p.m. in which the senior high school girls take on the junior girls in a traditional rivalry like none other – all under the lights at the Dave M. Hughes Stadium high school football field. Importantly, the concession stand also will be open with plenty to eat.  All proceeds benefit the class activities.

--And for shoppers wary of mall traffic, come to the HHS Boosters store which will be open all weekend during the Hopkinton Youth Basketball (HYBA) annual “Tap-Off Tournament.”  Store hours are:  Fri, Nov. 22 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.; and Sat., Nov. 23 and Sun., Nov. 24, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.  Sales benefit Hopkinton athletics so shop early for the holidays.  In addition – special for HHS Boosters Members -- receive 20% off your store purchases all weekend.  You can join today in-store or on-line at www.hopkintonboosters.com.

 Reprinted with permission from SoundMindz.org                       

Happiness: Why Is It So Elusive?

 

by Arthur P. Ciaramicoli, Ed.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer, Soundmindz.org 

If you google the word happiness you will be exposed to many articles, books and blogs telling you how to attain this all-elusive state. Why the sudden overflow of information regarding happiness?

I believe the overriding interest is directly related to the fact that our culture is suffering a collapse of mental resiliency.  40 million Americans suffer from anxiety, eighteen percent of the population. Globally 350 million people suffer from depression, one in ten Americans. Children experience depression ten times the incidence of generations ago; depression rates are ten times higher than they were in 1960. The average age of a depressive episode today is 14.5 years; fifty years ago it was close to 30 years of age.

Half of Americans say they lie awake at night due to stress, while three quarters of Americans experience stress symptoms, either physical, psychological or both.

According to the World Health Organization stress related business costs for Americans rose to 300 billion dollars last year, an astounding figure, with absenteeism being a chief culprit. A Gallup poll in the summer of 2013 indicated that 70% of Americans hate their jobs, feel disengaged and blame their bosses for their attitude.

To add to the dire statistics Americans die sooner and have higher rates of disease than 16 other rich countries.

Our culture moves too fast, suffers from sleep deprivation, and is overwrought with stress as we chase happiness in all the wrong places. We wonder why we are unhappy and unhealthy, and yet the answers are not as elusive as we might think. We have fallen into the trap of believing that net worth equals self worth, and we sacrifice health and quality for speed and production.  We tend to rate status over character and achievement over relationships.

A Simple Answer

Although I don’t’ agree with several of Freud’s assertions his formula for a successful, happy life seems quite accurate- to love and to work. If I could add to his definition I believe that we need to engage in meaningful work or activities, we need to be able to sustain intimacy with family and friends, and we need to maintain reasonable self care to experience happiness with consistency. In my experience there are few Americans who can say they have been able to remain balanced in all of these three categories. I add self-care to the happiness formula as our ability to care for ourselves, including exercising regularly, eating nutritiously, sleeping at least 7 to 8 hours a night, and thinking of ourselves as worthy people are all highly correlated with the ability to love others.  Self-care includes the internal dialogue we have with ourselves, if it is critical and demeaning it will influence our mood and how we relate to others.

The Path to Happiness

Happiness cannot be successfully attained in the long run by pursuing it directly; it is a by-product of our interpersonal abilities and lifestyle. First and most important is our ability to relate with empathy, compassion and goodness. So many in our fast paced culture long for intimacy and connection but don’t take the time to develop the internal spirit necessary to create and maintain closeness. When we are too busy for intimacy it is not because we don’t have the time. We don’t make the time because on a deeper level we don’t have the confidence that we know how to sustain intimacy. Falling in love takes little time and skill, the actual loving of another person occurs over time, not immediately. Intimacy and deep friendship occurs when we let ourselves be known, along with developing the ability to to truly understand another person.

We can’t understand the uniqueness of another human being if we can’t slow down enough to truly listen. For many years doing couples therapy the complaint I have heard the most is about spouses who interrupt, are preoccupied, not present and yet seemingly are frustrated when deeper connections do not occur, and their sex life diminishes. We get what we give, and if we expect to be heard without reciprocating, we create a one sided monologue that leads to boredom and emotional distance. A formula for unhappiness.

Meaningful Activity

We know that those who love to learn derive great happiness from new discoveries and new possibilities. We know that those who love to dance, who love music, who love the theatre, love playing a sport, all experience happiness. These activities can be fleeting, however. The most enduring activities that provide happiness are usually actions that have intrinsic meaning, and extend to the world we encounter. For instance I am happy at the moment, after a morning spinning class with our two daughters, a nutritious breakfast thereafter listening to all the new things happening in their lives, I am in my home office enjoying writing to you.  I am hoping these words will prove helpful to you, and thus give me a sense of imparting something of value from my life to yours.

Interestingly we don’t have to be doing something grand to experience happiness. Holding the door open for an elderly person, or sending a card to an old friend during the holidays is enough to cause a pleasant neurochemical change. Happiness is a by-product of giving and engaging with others.

Self –Care

If we don’t take reasonable care of ourselves we alter our mood, deplete energy and are less available to those closest to us. In essence we cheat the one’s we love because we are not in a mental and emotional framework to be fully present. We live our lives, in part, according to our moods, if our energy is low, if we feel run down it is very hard to be loving. We shortchange everyone we encounter, our self-care is not just about us, it influences everything we do and everyone we interact with.

Simple but Profound

Describing the components of a happy life is easy but implementation if far from simple. In order to implement changes in each of the three categories discussed we have to be aware, focused and dedicated to balancing our lives. Without continual effort happiness will always be fleeting and surely elusive. 

Arthur P. Ciaramicoli is a Hopkinton resident.

Margaret (Kaufmann) Buser, 93

Margaret (Kaufmann) Buser, 93, of Hopkinton and a former resident of Framingham, passed away at her daughter's home Friday, November 15, 2013. Born in New York in 1920, she was the daughter of Ralph and Mildred Kaufmann, and wife of the late Carl Buser who died in 1982.

She is survived by three children, Wayne Buser and his wife Roberta of Castle Rock, CO, Barbara Ainsworth of Ashland, and Nancy Gibbs and her husband Braman "Gibby" of Hopkinton. She also had three grandchildren,Lesley Bauer and her husband Dan, Derek Ainsworth and Leigh Ainsworth as well as great-grandchildren, Gracie Mae Bauer and Kymberly Ainsworth.

At Margaret's request, services will be private. Arrangements are under the care of the Chesmore Funeral Home of Hopkinton,. In lieu of flowers, memorial 
contributions in her memory may be made to Project Just Because, P.O. Box 36, 86 South St. Hopkinton, MA 01748.

Waning Days of Dogs

MSBA to Consider Inviting Hopkinton Application for Eligibility

The Superintendent of Hopkinton Public Schools, Dr. Cathy MacLeod, will be attending the public meeting of the Massachusetts School Building Authority to be held on Wednesday, November 20, 2013 in Boston at the MSBA’s building. At that meeting, the Board of Directors will consider the authorization to invite the Town of Hopkinton to enter into the MSBA's Eligibility Period. Funding for a feasibility study was approved at the May, 2013 Town Meeting, and the Elementary School Building Committee is ready to move forward if we are selected. — Press Release

State Police Arrest Driver in Auburn After Driving Wrong Way on I-395

November 18, 2013 — On Saturday November 16, 2013 at approximately 9:30 p.m., State Police Sturbridge Barracks was notified by Connecticut State Police of a wrong way driver, driving North on the Southbound lanes of I-395, coming into Massachusetts from Connecticut.

Multiple calls were received as Troopers responded to the area.  This wrong way driver was reported to be driving at high rates of speed, and caused a crash on I-395 in the town of Webster.  The vehicle then continued north in the southbound lanes.  The erratic, wrong way driver continued, nearly striking several vehicles, including a State Police cruiser.

As Troopers continued to track this vehicle, Trooper Jody Greene observed the vehicle driving straight at him at approximately 80 mph.  After Trooper Greene swerved to avoid being hit, he observed the car abruptly cut across all lanes of traffic, causing other cars to swerve, and the vehicle exited to Route 20 in Auburn, going the wrong way on the on-ramp.

Shortly thereafter, the now unoccupied vehicle was located in a parking lot of an establishment on Route 20 in Auburn.  The driver of the vehicle, identified as JOHN ZMITRUKIEWICZ, 63, of North Grosvenordle Conn., was located inside the establishment.  After conversation with ZMITRUKIEWICZ and a brief investigation, ZMITRUKIEWICZ was placed under arrest.

ZMITRUKIEWICZ will be arraigned in Worcester District Court on the following charges:

1)      Operating a motor vehicle under the influence of intoxicating liquor

2)      Failure to stop for police

3)      Leave the scene of property damage accident

4)      Reckless operation of a motor vehicle

~MSP Press release