7. March 2010 by pat desmond.

It’s been an exhausting week for Town Meeting members and others who have been watching the workings of Milton government.

Five nights of debate ended Thursday, March 4, when a motion to reconsider the Temple zoning article was withdrawn by the man who put reconsideration on the table.

Webster Collins had suggested the meeting reconsider the article so it could be sent back to the Planning Board. One hour later, after a number of town meeting members had spoken either for or against the concept of reconsideration, it was apparent the question was moot.

Temple President Linda Packer told the meeting the Temple has to act by May and town officials drew a time line that made it clear the article could not be discussed again at the annual town meeting.

Now the ball is in the Temple’s court. Some neighbors want to walk to retail shops. Some neighbors want nothing to do with adding a commercial mix to their area. Members of the Temple say their option is to sell the land to someone who would create affordable and high density housing in a way that would sidestep town zoning.

It was a draining process.

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1. March 2010 by pat desmond.

David Sumner Cutler, 66, a community newspaper giant, died Feb. 28 of bilary cancer in a journey chronicled on a web site tended by his son Josh. If you care to read that story, go to http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/davidcutler/mystory.

His death was like his life – cutting edge, risky and complicated.

David was my friend and mentor. We met at the Patriot Ledger when he was just back from being a Marine in Vietnam. It was not until many years later that I discovered he was a hero. The paper for his Purple Heart said that while under enemy fire, he risked his life to save one of his men who had fallen in an exposed position. David was wounded as he tried to save a young man. His scars from Vietnam were usually covered by clothing and bravado.

He was always brave. He held himself to extraordinarily high standards. He came from a family accustomed to accomplishment.

His parents, the late John and Bobbi Cutler, started the Duxbury Clipper 60 years ago. He grew up understanding the difficulties of a weekly newspaper.

David was a graduate of Holderness School in New Hampshire and Colby College. His grandmother, the late Cid Ricketts Sumner, was the author of several books. She wrote “Quality” a story made into a movie called “Pinky” about the topic of interracial marriage when there were still states that outlawed those marriages. She wrote the “Tammy Out of Time” which became the movie “Tammy and the Bachelor” starring Debbie Reynolds. His maternal grandfather, the late John Sumner, won the Nobel Prize in chemistry. His father’s family were Greek immigrants, making the fact that his father graduated from Harvard and authored a number of books of his own, all the more impressive.

In the spring of 1972, when David was not yet 30, he, his wife, and a partner, Mike Stearns - who had a small amount of cash - started the Marshfield Mariner.

Most of his friends in the business thought his parents backed that venture. We weren’t surprised he didn’t sink. The truth was what saved him was hard work, commitment, and a community that wanted its own local paper. He and his partner were just about out of money when the election season began and the Marshfield politicians began showing up looking for advertising space.

That wasn’t his only close call financially. David grew his business from one paper to 17 when he sold the operation to Cap Cities ABC in the 1980s. He stayed on at the green building in Marshfield’s industrial park for a few more years.

When he left, he partnered with John Coots, who had been his boss in the corporate structure. The pair bought the Southbridge Press which included the Southbridge Evening News and several smaller papers and David was on his way to creating his second newspaper empire. They also owned Salmon Press, a venture that publishes several newspapers in New Hampshire. He once told me he was amazed at the low sale price of some weeklies. At the time of his death, his holdings included 23 newspapers in three states.

David took over the ownership of the Duxbury Clipper after his father’s death in 1998. For more than 10 years, his son, Josh has run the Clipper. Under Josh’s leadership, the Clipper opened several sister papers, called the Express in Hanson, Whitman, East Bridgewater and Pembroke. Josh is no longer serving as the publisher of the Clipper since he decided to run for state representative in the district.

David is survived by his wife, the Rev. Catherine Cullen, of Duxbury; two sisters, Margaret Chandler of Maryland and Gail Cutler of Pembroke; three sons, Josh S. Cutler of Duxbury, Benjamin D. Cutler of New York and Jonathan M. Cullen of West Roxbury; three, daughters Carolyn M. Cutler of Georgia, Rebecca W. Cutler of Duxbury and Amanda C. Benard of Hingham, and seven grandchildren.

He leaves a large extended family, including ex-wives, former step children and many friends.

A graveside service at Mayflower Cemetery was held March 4 at 10 a.m. A memorial service will be held Saturday, March 13 at 5 p.m. at First Parish Church, Duxbury.

Donations may be made to the Cutler Family Scholarship in care of the Trustees of Partridge Academy, P.O. Box 2552, Duxbury, MA 02331.

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13. January 2010 by pat desmond.

The next issue is almost ready to go to the press - but interesting stories are breaking…

If I wrote about it now on this blog our competitors might catch up with us.

I’ll write about it Thursday, once the paper is on the street.

If there were a way to pay for a local news on the web, it would be great.

We  did test an online subscription model back in 2002. It was a financial failure. The good news is the print model still works on a local level. Maybe that’s because we gave up the internet experiment when it failed to pay for itself.

Right now we are testing another model. Once a week we email “With the Athletes” to a small group of people who have paid us for the email blast.  The column has long been the favorite of our print subscribers. So far the number of people who have paid for the email is relatively small. Maybe this is a 100 monkeys sort of experiment. Maybe it will catch on all at once when 100 subscribers have signed on.

I happen to think it is the wave of the future - but then I still read print newspapers on a regular basis. What do I really know about the people who think news is not worth the price of a paper.

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17. December 2009 by pat desmond.

I may have been born before half past the 20th Century but I’ve learned the language of the future.

 Not only can I be found on Twitter and Facebook but I blog about my life and work. I amaze myself.

My latest digital trick is posting to You Tube.

Click below and visit the Milton Times office for about two minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yupd4VqwBLE

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5. December 2009 by pat desmond.

Santa Claus and the carollers will be in East Milton in a few hours. So where is the snow? Why is it raining here and snowing in Houston, TX?It is slightly more than 40 degrees Fahrenheit  with a chilling rain. How will those reindeers manage?The Milton Chamber of Commerce, the town Department of Public Works, the Kiwanis Club are all working to make the day magical. But who knows how to do a “Don’t Rain” Dance?Will people stroll the shops? Only time will tell.

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3. December 2009 by pat desmond.

The first East Milton Holiday Stroll happens from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5. Fliers with the list of participants will be available on the M. Joseph Manning Deck.Carollers from Milton High School will be on the Deck singing. Santa Claus is expected to arrive soon after the songs begin. Santa has been invited to come in from the cold at Abby Park where there will be pizza slices for the strollers.M. Joseph Manning will flip the lights on the Christmas tree before 4:30.Nancy Jesson, president of the Milton Chamber of Commerce, will be handing out candy canes courtesy of Gosule, Butkus & Jesson. At Grono & Christie Jewelers, Judah Maccabee will be handing out chocolate gelt.Corcoran Brokerage is serving Christmas cookies and juice.The  Fruit Center will offer a series of tastings - from wine to granola.Fitness Unlimited has hot chocolate.Belle Visage is giving polishes or emory boards.B-Boutique is giving samples.Mellie’s Hair Design will have coupons available.Kelley & Rege will be open with cookies and cider.Rumor is there may be more….

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2. November 2009 by pat desmond.

Last week Jerry Joyce turned 90.

There were a few parties to celebrate - one party brought out about 300 Fuller Village residents.

As I understand it the Men’s Breakfast group at the COA was one of the party sites.

I know there was a party for the family Nov. 1 at Sen. Brian Joyce’s home. During that party two of Jerry’s grandchildren who are abroad were planning to call him using Skype. (For the non-geeks, that means an internet phone call.)

I wasn’t at the family party so I can’t tell you how the phone call went.

But I was at Fuller Village Friday evening with many of Jerry’s family and friends. Harriet Rosen played the piano and everyone sang along. The whole event was a lot of fun. Every resident of Fuller received an invitation to the party.

One focal point of the party was a reading by the senator and some of his siblings that documented Jerry’s life. The massive reading was a framed resolution signed by the 40 state senators to commemorate the birthday.

Happy birthday, Jerry, and best regards.

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10. October 2009 by pat desmond.

(Onions & Roses is an opinion column that appears from time to time in The Milton Times.)

Roses to everyone who helped to make CelebrateMilton a success this year. All the advance publicity had told people the raindate would be Oct. 4. And when it rained (no, poured) Oct. 3, the organizers managed to move the event to the Cunningham/Collicot complex.

More people came than expected. And everyone enjoyed the day.

Onions to the proponents of the increased meals tax. What are you thinking? How much money will you lose in the long run if little sandwich shops, already struggling end up vacant? It took two years for the two new restaurants to clear the hurdles so they could open with liquor licenses. Now that they are up and running, somebody is trying to make the good local residents who frequent local restaurants pay more. Onions!

Roses to the staff of The Milton Times who work long and hard to create an interesting newspaper every week.

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28. September 2009 by pat desmond.

The National Newspaper Association brought me many marvelous ideas for improving the Milton Times.

The NNA held its annual convention in Mobile, AL, this past weekend. Publishers are people who are used to working on Saturday. So the fact that the convention’s workshops were on Friday and Saturday fit just fine with the people who form the backbone of the NNA. The awards ceremony was Saturday and, obviously, you don’t win prizes in newspapers by being a 9 to 5 weekday sort of person.

The Milton Times took an honorable mention in the feature writing category. Thank you, NNA.

People who dedicate their lives to community journalism are still having fun. And the NNA is one of the reasons journalists can still succeed and enjoy their work.

The group of vendors offered great stuff - but it is unlikely many sales were made. In a time when the economy is sluggish, the add-ons are a tough sell.

I bought a slew of baseball caps that annouce Press. I gave some out today to the office staff. More to come.

This week one of our staff members was almost run over while crossing the street to the post office. He was in a cross walk and had a red light. Today I gave him his orange vest, with big letters spelling out PRESS on the back. I have them for the rest of the staff.  He’s written a fine commentary on the event. (No, not the orange vest, the car.

Later this week when we meet as a staff, the Times staff will be thinking about the changes we can make to improve.

Thank you, NNA.

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16. September 2009 by pat desmond.

Well, parking was on the agenda and the 25 to 30 people who gathered at Abby Park for a working lunch had some great ideas.

First we want to find out what the Selectmen are doing with the service zone parking in Milton Village.

Then there is the East Milton Square issue. Nancy Jesson, president of the Chamber, and Meryl Mannin, vice president, are both on the parking committee the town set up. They reported back that absolutely nothing is happening.

 The Chamber voted to let the Selectmen know how frustrated we all are.

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