I wrote this piece for Facebook several years ago after a very frustrating week. I used it again recently when Patricia Fry, principal of Plymouth South High School, asked me to share a little about my career, at the Vision of a Graduate ceremony. It celebrates students that are mindful learners, effective communicators, inclusive individuals, […]
Author Archives: Bill Fornaciari - Independent Correspondent
Posted inHistory & Architecture
Connecting the dots between Italian immigrants and Plymouth Cordage Co.
In 2018, I made my first trip to my ancestral homeland of Bologna, Italy. Part of the trip included excursions into the countryside to see the villages different branches of my family came from. The village of Palata Pepoli was home to two branches of my family – Fornaciari and Fiocchi. It was everything you […]
Posted inBusiness
Rooftop solar installations aren’t always a sunny proposition
On July 1, new state building codes for energy conservation in residential and commercial buildings will take effect. Along with my fellow architects, trade professionals, and building officials, I’m preparing for the implications. One portion of the new code addresses solar installations and provisions. All well and good, but I have serious reservations based on […]
Posted inHistory & Architecture
The Plymouth Fragment Society has been giving back to the town for two centuries
It’s that time of the year when charity golf tournaments are sprouting like dandelions. They are an excellent way to raise money for selected causes and charities . . . and the participants have fun. But there is a charitable foundation in Plymouth that has never sponsored a golf tournament – and probably never will. […]
Posted inHistory & Architecture
Do you know where Plymouth’s Tweenit section is?
A few years after my graduation from college in 1986, the Massachusetts economy sputtered and died. I decided to follow in the steps of my grandparents and seek my future in California. In 1959, my grandparents had moved to San Diego; just over 30 years later I found myself in San Francisco. I took a […]
Posted inHistory & Architecture
Town Meeting has had an agenda for a long time
Plymouth Town Meeting commences Saturday, April 6, at 8 a.m., at Plymouth North High School. At the meeting, 162 representative members from our town’s 18 voting precincts will gather to discuss and vote on 21 warrant articles, ranging from the general budget to purchasing lawn mowers for the Parks Department. You could argue that Plymouth’s […]
Posted inHistory & Architecture
Taking stock of a rare roof in Plymouth
With the current effort to draw attention to one of Plymouth’s overlooked Revolutionary heroes – Mercy Otis Warren – perhaps it’s also time to highlight the home she and her husband shared in our town. Otis Warren, a friend of Abigail Adams and author of the first full account of the American Revolution, lived at […]
Posted inHistory & Architecture
A local fish tale about a man with a vision and a rooftop boat
If you’re a long-time resident of Plymouth, you almost certainly remember Mayflower Seafoods on the Plymouth waterfront. For me the restaurant evokes both fond memories of a now deceased business and some not-so-fond childhood memories of being forced to eat fish, whether I wanted to or not. My parents were cafeteria Catholics; they picked what […]
Posted inHistory & Architecture
The lowdown on why Plymouth doesn’t have tall buildings
Plymouth is not known for tall buildings, but there are several notable exceptions. The zoning bylaw limits the height of a building to 35 feet in most areas of the town, though certain inclusion zones – Cordage Park, areas around Long Pond Road and parcels along Commerce Way – allow construction up to 45 feet […]
Posted inCulture
Plymouth is full of historical artifacts. But where to store them?
Dostadning. It’s a mashed up Swedish word combining death and cleaning. It was derived by Swedish author Margareta Magnusson who wrote the book “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning” in 2017. The basic premise is to purge your life of possessions so it does not fall to your children to deal with them. I […]