EXTRA...

D-Y Lip Dub goes viral; New surf lure: the Hooksett hook? Cronin calls it quits; Sheriff stuck for CMED costs; The ties that bind us to the Kennedys

TODAY's quote: "If something doesn't pop, I'm going to have to do something to satisfy my budget needs for Fiscal Year '12." - James M. Cummings, Barnstable County sheriff.

D-Y Lib Dub final cut rocks

The budding Steven Spielberg behind this video is a junior at D-Y High School, and he managed to get the entire student body to perform as professionally as any MTV or Nickelodeon production.  John Terrio Jr. sits on the school committee as the student representative, is a class grade representative and the corresponding secretary for the student council executive board. He is also the varsity kicker for the football team. His parents are both DY graduates (Carol Terrio 80' and John Terrio Sr. 77') and his family resides in Dennis. The lip dub was his entire fourth term project in the pilot class Broadcasting Technology 1. John said, "The entire piece was my vision, and I couldn't be happier with the turn out. In the future I hope to major in film at either Emerson or Boston College, with the hopes of one day being a director. I look forward to next year's project that I hope to do bigger and better things with."

John started his 2011 Lip Dub project 3 ½ months ago when he pitched the concept to his Broadcasting Technology teacher, Reade Whinnem, and his first task was to find a song. He wanted the song to be upbeat and send a positive message, and in doing so we discovered the Hall and Oats classic "You Make My Dreams Come True". With the full support of Principal, Ken Jenks, dates were put in place and casting began. The entire school would be given a chance to participate as over 40 different varsity sports and clubs signed up for a piece of real estate along the lip dub route.

John said, "On the day of shooting, I got to school around 6:30am, and began making sure everything was in order. The bucket lift had to be in place on the soccer field for our final shot, dimly lit areas had to be altered and press had to be kept from getting into the shots; however, that never happened. Last period the entire school met in the upper gym. I sent the respective sports teams and clubs off into the hands of my assistant directors to be placed along the route. With hundreds of kids in the hallways, a packed upper gym, and students spelling out DY on the soccer field, we were ready to shoot. We shot for about 30 minutes, ran our route about 3 times till we had the footage we needed to work with. The day came and went in the blink of an eye, but I'll never forget one minute of it."

New Surf lure: the Hooksett hook?

The Newburyport News reports that at least one business has found a way to have a little fun with those wastewater disks which washed ashore by the millions on our beaches this Spring.

In the three months since millions of wastewater treatment disks escaped from a Hooksett, N.H., sewage facility into the Merrimack River and floated all the way to the Greater Newburyport area and now Cape Cod, they have caused headaches for thousands of people and cost more than $1 million to pick up.

But at least one Plum Island business has found a way to poke some fun at the unfortunate situation. Recently, employees at the Surfland Bait and Tackle Shop took at least two of the half-dollar-sized disks, added some hooks and turned them into not-for-sale lures.

Read the News story here.

Sheriff stuck for cost
Centralized Emergency Medical Dispatch needs funds

The Enterprise Newspapers report that the state's Centralized Emergency Medical Dispatch (CMED) system is not adequately funded by the state and the Barnstable County Sheriff's Department will have to cover the costs itself. And this despite the entire Cape Cod legislative members rallying to get added funds.

The Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government last week held a public hearing on Bill H.02333, filed this year by State Representative Cleon H. Turner, D - Dennis, and cosponsored by the Cape's entire House delegation. Most of its sponsors testified on the bill's behalf, along with Sheriff Cummings and Mary L. (Pat) Flynn, a member of the Barnstable County Board of County Commissioners and the Falmouth Board of Selectmen.

On hearing of the sheriff's financial troubles, one local wag suggested "Maybe Jeff Perry will loan him part of his $104,000 salary."

Read the Enterprise story here.

Cronin calls it quits
Longtime realtor sells American Heritage Real Estate to Jim & Susan Collins

A young Tom Cronin at American Heritage Real Estate in 1966 learns how to dial the phone.

This reporter remembers the day washashore realtor Tom Cronin walked into The Cape Codder office on Nanskaket Road in Orleans to place his first ad in the newspaper.

I introduced him to Publisher Malcolm Hobbs who said, "Oh. you're Dell Johnson's new son-in-law."

In the spirit which characterized his success in real estate, Cronin replied, "No. He's MY new father-in-law."

Then young Tom went on to tear up the turf in local home sales quickly becoming the dominant force on the Lower Cape in that then-burgeoning industry.

The only problem the weekly newspaper ever had with American Heritage was when his partner Ralph Fowler tried to place his ads in the edition after Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination. The series of classified ads each started with the phrase "I have a Dream house in ..." The weekly refused the ads, and Fowler died shortly after in the arms of a woman not his wife in a Sandwich motel.

Tom will now have time to further his news career helping Dominican ballplayers make it to the majors, or continue to visit Haiti without being hijacked again, and show us his remarkable photography. - WB

The Cape Codder eulogizes his departure from business this week with a story saying when he and partner Ralph Fowler turned the old South Orleans General Store and Post Office into American Heritage, they had hundreds and hundreds of listings and represented 25 sub-divisions.

Back in those boom years in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, Tom and Ralph were marketing 300-400 lots in Chatham's Riverbay and land around Brewster's Sheep Pond was going for about $2,500 for less than half an acre.

"They used to come streaming through the door to buy lots as an investment," said Cronin.

There was no online presence of course, but Cronin had the local paper and a huge chalkboard, which proclaimed the deals of the day under his sign on Route 28. He has a picture of that miniature billboard that would cause pile-ups today: a saltwater lot in Eastham selling for $12,000 and waterfront in Orleans going for $15,500.

The new owners are Jim and Susan Collins who have plans to expand on the Mid- and Outer-Cape and just bought Wellfleet Real Estate.

Read The Cape Codder story here.

The ties that bind us to the Kennedys

The New York Times today has an eloquent tribute to the contributions the Kennedy family has made to our country.

"One is the issues that the Kennedy family members believe in. These include civil rights, help for the poor and unfortunate, better health care, and tolerance and love for all of America's people. I have never heard of a Kennedy opposing any of these do-good issues or saying anything that was mean, derogatory or self-serving."

The writer has a very personal tale to tell.

Read the Times article here.

Scroll down to:
PMC kids ride to support cancer research;
A Cape political camp for kids;
Popponessett Island oyster fight;
Golf course bistro gets half a loaf;
Chatham fishermen get $185,000;
East Harwich gets a "village"; Cubs become Islanders.