To the Editor: Motor vehicle crashes are one of the leading causes of death for young children.A minor crash or even a sudden stop can seriously injure a child who is not riding in the right type of child safety seat. You can reduce the risk by having your child always ride in a safety seat.The Massachusetts Child Passenger Safety Law requires children to ride as passengers in motor vehicles in a federally approved child passenger restraint that is properly fastened and secured until they are 8 years old or over 57” tall. Also, follow vehicle manufacturer's warnings about seating children …

To the Editor: Acknowledgement is given to all who participated and supported the Town of Sharon, Mass. Flag Day Program held Thursday evening, June 14 at the Sharon Veterans' Memorial Park.Two crew members assigned to the U.S.S. Constitution augmented the program by speaking about the history of the U.S.S. Constitution and the War of 1812. They were very impressive reminding us of some of our history. They were Petty Officer 1st Class Scott Bartlett and Seaman Bill Gillaspie.Designated boy scouts of Boy Scout Troop 95 opened and closed the program by raising and lowering the United States …

To the Editor: A special "thank you" extended to the professionalism conveyed each and every morning at the Sharon Middle School as portrayed by an outsanding Sharon Police officer with obvious military discipline and training as he guided us each and every morning as we rushed this past school year to get our children and grandchildren to school on time, despite the traffic! Again, another portrayal of the excellence by the Sharon Police Department in doing its best to assure us of safety and well being! Thank you. Christopher Tingus Sharon

To the Editor: Jimmy Fund Golf extends its sincerest thanks to the organizers and sponsors of the Jimmy Memorial held on June 5 at Juniper Hills Golf Course in Northborough. Special recognition and appreciation goes to Sandy Eskin of Sharon, and the committee who organized the 11th annual event.      The dedicated sponsors, participants, and volunteers helped raise critical funds to support research and care at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.  The 11th annual Jimmy Memorial is one of the many golf tournaments that will be held in 2012 to raise funds for the Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber. The …

To the Editor: On May 19 and 20, the Sharon Police Department conducted its fifth "Junior Cadet Academy" at the Sharon Police Station. The program is designed for middle school aged youth to see "inside" the Sharon Police Department and how we function. Twenty one were chosen out of numerous applications, with classroom space being a limiting factor. The applicant's responses to questions on the application were reviewed to help determine who would be selected.The cadets received an extensive tour of the police station while observingdemonstrations of the various functions a police officer …

To the Editor: I would like to thank all of the residents of Sharon for allowing me to serve for over 18 years on the school committee. This Wednesday is my last meeting. I have seen all five schools renovated, watched over 4,000 students at their graduations, served with 24 other school committee members, and made countless new friends, if we agreed on issues or not. Some years, many people ran and others just enough run for school committee. At next Tuesday's election, I congratulate Veronica and Katie in advance, and wish them well. I'm not leaving Dodge and my number's in the book. Good …

To the Editor: Allowing kids to go online without supervision or ground rules is like allowing them to explore a major city by themselves. The Internet, like a city, offers an enormous array of entertainment and educational resources, but also presents some risks. Kids need help navigating this world. As parents, we want our children to be safe and responsible while using technology. We will have succeeded when each child can recognize and minimize the three main risks associated with all forms of technology that connect to the Internet (i.e., computers, iPods, cell phones, game consoles). …

To the Editor: The Mathews Family and Sharon Police Department wish to recognize the passing of our patriarch and colleague James E. Mathews. Jimmy served the Sharon community as a police officer for 34 years, from 1950 until his retirement in 1984. His hiring marked the beginning of overnight patrols in town, as he worked from 12 midnight until 8 a.m. for the first several years of his career. He was equally adept at disarming a knife wielding robber, as he did at Thayer Pharmacy in 1975, or in helping children cross the street in the Square on their way to the Wilber School. His commitment …

To the Editor:In a recent publication, a story about a bill that would legalize fireworks in Massachusetts came before the Joint Committee on Public Safety which is co-chaired by state Sen. James Timilty. Timilty recalled traveling back from a trip to New Hampshire and seeing alcohol, cigarette and fireworks stores along the border looking to attract Massachusetts customers. "That conversation absolutely has to happen," he said. Leaving aside the merits or demerits of the particular bill, Senator Timilty's remarks to the press concerning it are troubling. We have seen this pattern before …

To the Editor: On Feb. 16, Sharon High School hosted two programs for Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month.  The Clothesline Project is an exhibit consisting of T-shirts created by survivors of domestic violence and/or the loved ones and friends of victims of domestic violence. Survivors are men, women or children that have survived intimate personal violence, such as rape, battering, incest or child sexual abuse. A victim is a person who has died at the hands of their abuser. Some messages are encouraging and empowering, and some are the stories of the violence done against the person who …

To the Editor: Happy New Year. With four elections and two town meetings, the town clerk's office is preparing for a busy year.We have retired our old voting equipment as it has become obsolete and purchased new voting equipment, AccuVote.The AccuVote ballots require the voter to fill in an "oval" with a black pen or marker next to the candidate's name. Instructions for marking the ballot were included in the Census mailing and will be available at all elections.Election workers have been trained to assist voters with questions at the polls.Election and Town Meeting dates: Presidential …

To the Editor: As we approach another lacrosse season, we have started up our indoor practices and are trying to finalize all rosters.   We have set up to have two U15 Boys teams, one U15 Girls team, two U13 Boys teams, one U13 Girls team, one U11 Boys team and two U11 Girls teams (which will include a combination of U9 and U11 girls), and one U9 Boys team. We will also have Boys Select teams at U15 and U13. We have reached the limit for a couple of teams: U15 Girls, U9 Boys, and U13 Boys Select. Any new registrations for these teams will be placed on a waitlist, and we will try to place …

To the Editor: After serving exceptionally well for three years, several members of the Sharon Finance Committee are ending their term, and the nominating committee of the finance committee is seeking new members to come on board. The finance committee (or warrant committee, as it was previously known), fills an important function in the town.Sharon has an open town meeting form of government and all residents are eligible to take a direct part in the fiscal and land use decisions that shape the circumstances of our daily lives. Town meeting voters have the final authority for these decisions…

To the Editor: As we approach another lacrosse season, we have started up our indoor practices and are trying to finalize all rosters. We have set up to have two U15 Boys teams, one U15 Girls team, two U13 Boys teams, one U13 Girls team, one U11 Boys team and two U11 Girls team (which will include a combination of U9 and U11 girls), and one U9 Boys team. We will also have Boys Select teams at U15 and U13. We have reached the limit for a couple of teams: U15 Girls, U9 Boys and U13 Boys Select. Any new registrations for these teams will be placed on a waitlist and we will try to place these …

To the Editor: Sharon Post 735 of the Jewish War Veterans conducted its bi-annual collection of funds for the Brockton Veterans Hospital on Veterans Day this past November at Shaw's Supermarket in Sharon. The money collected was donated to the Veterans Hospital to be used in the best interest of the veterans in long-term care at the hospital. This fundraising and support of the veterans at the hospital is the main mission of the Sharon post. The post members are most appreciative of the many generous donors that support our mission every Memorial Day and Veterans Day and it gives the post …

To the Editor:   The Town of Sharon is currently involved with relicensing negotiations with the cable company, Comcast.  As part of those negotiations, the town and Comcast are negotiating the financial assistance Sharon Community Television (channels 8, 12 and 22 on your cable system) will receive in the next license period.    For over 25 years, SCTV has provided extensive coverage of government meetings, school events, high school and youth sports, and other community activities. SCTV also provides the public with up-to-date information about events taking place in our community. SCTV …

To the Editor: During the first months of the school year, Sharon Middle School has expresseda focus on many core values, including generosity and kindness. On Tuesday, Nov. 15, seventh grade teams 7A and 7B combined to demonstrate these two especially important traits with a Thanksgiving project, Baskets for Benevolence. Baskets for Benevolence was a bit of an arts and crafts project and a great big hug rolled into one program designed to produce gift bags for the Ilsa Marks Food Pantry. Some activities students were involved in included making hand-woven reedbaskets, accessorizing napkins, …

To the Editor:Goodbye, polio: Thank you, Rotary.In October, Rotary International observes World Polio Day. Since Rotaryimplemented the PolioPlus program in 1985, Rotary's 1.2 million membersin 200 countries have contributed more than $1 billon and countless hours tohelp immunize more than 2 billion children in 122 countries. Polio cases havedropped by 99 percent, and the world stands on the threshold of eradicating polio.Rotary's work is not done. The commitment of Rotarians worldwidedemonstrates the extraordinary role civil society can play in improving healthworldwide. As long as polio …

To the Editor: A Water Department proposal to increase water rates will be considered at a selectmen's hearing on Tuesday, Sept. 6, at 7 p.m., at the Sharon Community Center. The Water Management Advisory Committee supports the proposal.Residential rates would rise in blocks. All user blocks would pay a fixed base fee of $60 per year for connection to the system, and in addition usage charges for the amount of water they consume.The lowest users' usage rate ($3 per thousand gallons) would not go up, but they would no longer receive up to 7,500 gallons of water "free" with their base fee …