MetroWest495 Biz stories

You can find a story I did on higher education in Metrowest on page 12, and a profile of Monster.com on page 18. Go here.

Hopkinton's "personal connection" with Iwo Jima

For Hopkinton, ties to Iwo Jima run deep

Painting pays homage to its 7 surviving vets

By Taryn Plumb

Globe Correspondent / February 26, 2012 

It’s the nights that Bob LaVoie remembers most.

That was when, as bombers thundered overhead and flares sporadically lighted up the sky, the fighting was most frequent and fierce on that small volcanic island in the Pacific 67 years ago.

“It was surreal,’’ said LaVoie, a lifetime Hopkinton resident who fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima in February and March of 1945. “Indescribable, really.’’

But what words can’t quite describe, art sometimes can.

LaVoie’s emotions and experiences - along with those of six other men with ties to his hometown who fought in that iconic World War II battle and who, remarkably, all came back alive - are embodied in “Honoring the Spirit,’’ an oil painting by another Hopkinton resident, Dustin Neece.

The recently unveiled painting served as the centerpiece for Iwo Jima Day, observed at the State House on Feb. 17.

“I didn’t want to just make a portrait,’’ said the 28-year-old artist, a graduate of Hopkinton High School and Rhode Island School of Design. “I wanted to create a window into what they had been through.’’

But the goal was also, as state Representative Carolyn Dykema explained during the ceremony, to honor Hopkinton’s “personal connection’’ with the battle.

In the 1940s, Hopkinton’s population was roughly 3,000 - compared with about 15,000 now - so having seven men who either grew up in town or married into it and survived Iwo Jima is a “pretty remarkable statistic,’’ Dykema said.

Of those seven - six Marines and one sailor - three are still alive: LaVoie, Paul Phipps, and John Cahill. The four others were Harold Bowman, Richard Claflin, William Connor, and Joseph “Bud’’ Kinnarney.

Hopkinton resident Hank Allessio, a town historian and veteran himself, made the discovery when he began collecting military portraits from townspeople several years ago.

Neece was eventually commissioned for the painting, which was paid for through donations from local businesses.

“I was surprised to know that anybody else went through the same thing,’’ said the 85-year-old LaVoie, a retired carpenter, husband of 52 years, father of five, and grandfather of 10. “It’s a small town; I talked to them all, knew them all well. I was surprised we had so much in common.’’

The Battle of Iwo Jima - waged on a tiny, little-known island in the Japanese archipelago - is considered one of the bloodiest engagements in one of the world’s bloodiest wars. Covered by naval and air support, 75,000 Marines invaded the 8 1/2-square-mile island in an intense fight against roughly 23,000 Japanese soldiers who had set up positions in a network of fortified bunkers and tunnels. Most battles broke out at night amid Iwo Jima’s rocky terrain and black sand beaches, the air filled with the stinging aroma of sulfur.

This intensity is what Neece attempted to capture. A 40- by 50-inch oil on canvas, “Honoring the Spirit’’ depicts a soldier crouched in a rugged foxhole, gun at the ready, face illuminated by a flare. At his feet is a fallen comrade’s helmet, bearing a bullet hole fresh with blood.

On the soldier’s face is a blur of emotions: determination, apprehension, weariness.

“What touched me most was the intensity of what they went through on an emotional level,’’ said Neece, a figurative artist who has studied with Odd Nerdrum in Norway and Israel Zohar in England.

During the process of creating the painting, he used LaVoie’s grandsons as models, and also, for authenticity, relied on replica guns and props from the HBO miniseries “The Pacific,’’ which is set in WWII.

But most importantly, Neece said, he spent extensive one-on-one time with the three survivors, interviewing them not only about the details of their experience but the emotions they felt, the visceral impact.

“It was a chance to be heard,’’ Neece said in the State House’s Memorial Hall following the ceremony, “to share what they had been through.’’

It was a powerful, detailed unfolding, he said; the three veterans had rarely gone that deep on the subject, even with their own families.

For years, LaVoie certainly didn’t. But after being, as he called it, “hounded’’ by his family and friends, he decided to open up a bit about his wartime experiences.

“People pointed out to me that this is an important part of history that I should talk about,’’ said the veteran, who served in the Marines for almost seven years, and survived open-heart surgery last year. He spoke in a corridor of the State House on the day of the ceremony, still visibly uncomfortable discussing the topic.

Having just turned 18, he was on Iwo Jima for the whole campaign, and was one of just six in his 42-man platoon to get out alive, LaVoie said. “And most of us were a mess,’’ he continued.

Ultimately, the emotions he felt during those bloody, cacophonous days are “hard to explain,’’ LaVoie said.

As for Neece’s painting, he said he was surprised by its realism: “It captured a very important part of the battle, the nights.’’

Being privy to his memories of that time was a “privilege,’’ said Neece, adding that his “highest hope’’ is that the painting will provide some measure of healing for Iwo Jima vets.

“It was for them,’’ he said. “They were the only people that I was concerned about doing justice to.’’

The veterans were the focus of the Iwo Jima Day observances, which started with a parade from Faneuil Hall to the State House, where current and former members of the Marines, Coast Guard, Navy, Army, and ROTC gathered in Memorial Hall, an oval room of brown marble, light streaming in from a stained-glass ceiling.

To a standing ovation, roughly a dozen of the state’s surviving Iwo Jima vets, including LaVoie, entered the hall - one in a wheelchair, a couple of others aided by canes or walkers. A singing of “The Star Spangled Banner’’ followed, along with several speeches from legislators, military personnel, and fellow veterans, thanking them for their service.

Still, like many other vets, LaVoie remains humble about his own contribution.

“The real heroes aren’t the ones who walked off the island,’’ he said. “The boys we left behind, they are. We shouldn’t forget that.’’

© Copyright 2012 Globe Newspaper Company.

Quick minds (and reflexes) (#2)

Mind games

Hamilton-Wenham puts its quiz show title on line

By Taryn Plumb

Globe Correspondent / February 26, 2012 

Feet clad in neon-green Converse sneakers shifted back and forth. Fingers twirled long strands of brown hair. Hands jingled change in pockets.

There was some pacing; a lot of chattering; last-minute quizzing on current events.

Finally, they were summoned - cue the bright lights, the cameras, the announcer, the cheering crowd.

It was time for speedy reflexes to rapidly retrieve facts from troves of trivia knowledge. And most of all, it was time to defend their school’s honor.

After winning it all last year, Hamilton-Wenham Regional High is once again engaged in a battle of brainpower in the third season of WGBH-TV’s “High School Quiz Show.’’

A team from the school handily made it to the second round of play last Sunday, knocking out Sharon High School in the process. Players Chris Anderson (a veteran of last year’s team), Siobhan McDonough, Ian MacLean, and Connor Schmidt will face Brookline High School on April 8 in the tournament’s quarter-finals.

“It was a good comeback,’’ McDonough, the team’s only female player (and the one with the nervous, neon green Converse-clad feet), said amid a celebrating crowd at the WGBH studios after the win.

A test of smarts, determination, and quick synapses, the Emmy Award-winning competition pits 16 teams from public schools across the state against one another in a bracketed elimination tournament with fast-paced games in the format of “Jeopardy!’’

Hosted by TV and radio personality Billy Costa, the competition premiered Feb. 12 on WGBH, and the final two teams will spar for state supremacy when the championship round airs May 20. Along the way, contenders will be pared down in qualifying matches, then quarterfinals, and finally semifinals in shows airing at 6:30 p.m. every Sunday.

Hamilton-Wenham is one of four north-of-Boston schools in the running this year: Beverly will go up against Acton-Boxborough Regional this evening, and Rockport and Somerville will have a skirmish of smarts on March 4.

Brookline was the first team to advance, beating Seekonk High School on Jan. 12.

The other teams in contention include Lincoln-Sudbury Regional, Lexington, Arlington, Belmont, Weston, Shrewsbury, Milton, and Hingham. All 16 were culled from an initial 90 challengers in a “Super Sunday’’ event last fall.

For Sharon, it was a revenge match against an ominous rival: Hamilton-Wenham booted the Sharon team from the semifinals last year before ultimately going on to win the championship against Mt. Greylock Regional High School (and, in the process, impressing everyone with their knowledge of the word “synecdoche’’).

And both teams were prepared for the fierce rematch, taped at the WGBH studios in Brighton on Jan. 28.

After a few minutes each in the makeup chair, the clipping-on of microphones, and posing for promotional photos, the players waited anxiously, milling around a cavernous “green room’’ (a misnomer; it was actually black) with their coach, Vincent Bucci, all wearing matching dark-blue shirts.

“I’m kind of nervous,’’ said Schmidt, an 18-year-old senior from Hamilton. “We have big shoes to fill. But we’re a confident team.’’

As for their preparation?

Nothing too different from their normal routine, he said. They gathered for the regular weekly meetings of the school’s College Bowl Club, did their usual studying and reading, and followed current events and sports.

Also, each kept up with their respective strengths: sports and pop culture for MacLean; pop culture for Schmidt; science, math, and history for Anderson; and literature for McDonough (a 17-year-old junior who picks up tidbits from book covers in her part-time job shelving books at the Hamilton-Wenham Public Library).

Overall, the team is well-rounded, said MacLean, a 17-year-old senior from Hamilton. “We will be competitive.’’

But members also noted their specific strength in Anderson, who was a force to contend with last year (and whose hobby is “speedcubing,’’ or solving a Rubik’s Cube in a personal average of 16 to 17 seconds).

He’s “pretty much our strongest player,’’ said MacLean, “quick with the buzzer.’’

Still, the 17-year-old Hamilton senior humbly noted that he’s “a bit lacking in literature,’’ and weakest when it comes to sports and music.

And despite his time on last year’s team, he acknowledged being “kind of nervous with the pressure of having to defend the title.’’

But before getting down to that competition, the studio staff went over some basic rules: Hit the buzzer with the heel of the hand, not the flat; after buzzing, wait for Costa to call your name before answering; only first answers would be accepted; and no signaling allowed between players and coaches.

Soon after, a headphone-wearing, clipboard-brandishing tech came in; it was time.

The two teams shook hands and wished each other luck, then lined up and proceeded to the closed studio door, abuzz with nervous chatter and laughter.

“You ready for this, kid?’’ MacLean asked Schmidt, trying to pump them both up. “You ready?’’

Inside, after emerging from behind a giant black curtain, the team was heralded by the theme from “Rocky,’’ while a small crowd cheered from bleachers.

Sound and buzzer checks followed, as well as several takes with the audience, ebbing and and flowing between raucous cheering and complete silence, following the direction of the stage manager.

Then it began.

The four rounds - toss-up, head-to-head, category, and lightning - were intense and difficult to follow, as contestants (particularly Anderson) rang in almost always before Costa finished reading each question.

They blew through questions related to Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse-Five,’’ the Beatles, Georges Lemaitre’s Big Bang theory, fashion, geometry, Charles Dickens, the Cold War, and Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

Taking a pause from the action - and in a nod to “Jeopardy!’’ - Costa asked each contestant a little about themselves (but with a bit of a twist).

If they had the choice, he queried, which founding father would they want to have as their father, and why: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, or George Washington?

Anderson: Ben Franklin. “He did so much more with his life,’’ he said, noting his scientific innovation and creativity.

McDonough: None of the above. “I really wouldn’t want to live in the 18th century,’’ she said, rousing laughter from the crowd.

Between takes, Anderson also fiddled with a Rubik’s Cube he almost always seems to have in hand. Showing off with a sly smile, he quickly pivoted the colored faces with one hand.

The score stayed close through the first two rounds, but the champions ultimately outpaced their rivals in the category round, eventually winning the game, 530-195.

“I’m really relieved that nothing horrible went wrong,’’ McDonough, who also plays flute and runs cross-country, said as the audience swarmed the studio floor when the cameras were finished rolling.

And, she said, she also learned a valuable lesson about the various types of intelligence.

“There’s a difference between knowing things,’’ she said, “and being able to answer them quickly.’’

© Copyright 2012 Globe Newspaper Company.

Quick minds (and reflexes) (#1)

Sharon competes in WGBH’s ‘High School Quiz Show’

‘High School Quiz Show’ puts students’ brains, and reflexes, to the test

 By Taryn Plumb |  Globe Correspondent  

 February 23, 2012

Cue the “Jeopardy!’’ theme song. It’s trivia time.
Answer these questions as fast as you can:
■Which element has atomic number 1?

■ Who commanded the Nautilus?

■ If a store has a 20 percent off sale, what would be the marked-down price of a $60 sweater?
Ooh, sorry, you weren’t quite fast enough.
Maybe you could take some tips from a team of Sharon High School students with fast reflexes and troves of trivia knowledge - they, in fact, faced these very questions when competing for their school’s glory in season three of WBGH’s “High School Quiz Show’’ on Sunday. (And the answers, if you’re curious: hydrogen; Captain Nemo of “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea’’; $48.)
In a test of brainpower and quick synapses, the Emmy Award-winning contest pits 16 teams from public schools across the state against one another in an elimination tournament with a fast-paced, Jeopardy-like format.
Hosted by TV and radio personality Billy Costa, the tournament premiered on Feb. 12 on WGBH-2, and the final two teams will do battle when the state championship airs on May 20. Along the way, competitors will be whittled down in qualifying matches, then quarter-finals, and finally semifinals in shows airing at 6:30 p.m. every Sunday.
Sharon, whose four-member team consisted of Hari Anbarasu, Siddarth Singh, Peter Riley, and Clara Mao, was knocked out of the first round this week by defending champion Hamilton-Wenham High School. It was one of three south-of-Boston schools to compete this year; Milton and Hingham will fight for south supremacy on March 11.
The other teams hail from Brookline, Seekonk (eliminated Feb. 12), Acton-Boxborough, Beverly, Rockport, Somerville, Lincoln-Sudbury, Lexington, Arlington, Belmont, Weston, and Shrewsbury. All 16 were culled from an initial 90 contenders in a “Super Sunday’’ event last fall.
As for Sharon? It was a revenge match against an ominous rival: Hamilton-Wenham booted the school’s team from the semifinals last year.
So preparing meant regimented study: After being chosen through a school-devised exam, the team members (only one of them, 15-year-old Singh, was on last year’s team) met every Monday with their coach, Valerie Gundlah, to watch past episodes of the competition, analyze other game shows, and play online trivia games. They tested their speed and ability related to the four different rounds: toss-up, head-to-head, category, and lightning.
As 15-year-old Mao explained afterward, they also made a list of key pieces of literature and shared the responsibility of looking up the author, historical context, and basic plot.
That preparation alone was an experience.
“I really liked learning about books that I probably won’t get to read in high school,’’ said Mao, a sophomore who also plays field hockey, participates in her school’s mock trial team, and plans to pursue a career in science or math.
The team members also honed their strengths: science for Riley, math for Anbarasu, history and geography for Singh, and math and literature for Mao.
Ultimately, noted Gundlah, a Sharon High Spanish teacher, success is based not only on knowledge but also speed with the buzzer.
And the best practice for that?
“Video games,’’ 16-year-old Riley, who is also on his school’s sailing team, said as he and his team gathered at the WGBH studios in Brighton for the rematch, taped Jan. 28.
After a few minutes in the makeup chair, the clipping-on of microphones, posing for promotional photos - and a lot of anxious waiting around - the team huddled in their matching burgundy polo shirts in the “green room’’ (it was actually black) to run through some trivia.
“What are some current events?’’ Riley asked, then offered, “Santorum won Iowa - after a recount.’’
After grappling with the name of the cruise ship that sank off the coast of Italy, they turned to Gundlah.
“The, uh,’’ she stopped to think, “ ‘something’ Concordia.’’
Mao retrieved the answer on her smartphone: “Costa.’’
A few minutes later, the studio staff went over some ground rules: Only first answers will be accepted; only say the answer once the host calls your name; contact the stage manager if you want to contest an answer.
Shortly before going on, Singh noted being “apprehensive,’’ but less nervous than last year.
As for Riley? He was “excited, nervous.’’ (Emotions shared by Mao.)
Recalling her time as coach last year, Gundlah noted an anxiety in having to stay silent on the sidelines.
“You’re telepathically shouting to them in your head,’’ she said with a laugh.
Finally, a headphone-wearing, clipboard-carrying tech came in; it was time.
The two teams shook hands and wished each other luck, then lined up and proceeded to the closed studio door.
Blue flashing lights heralded them inside, and a crowd of a few dozen cheered from bleachers as they took their positions behind two rectangular consoles.
Sound and buzzer checks followed, as well as several takes of the audience screaming, cheering, and waving signs (“Go Sharon!’’ and “Hi Mom’’), ebbing and and flowing with the direction of the stage manager.
Costa also did a few takes announcing each team, and joked with the crowd. Then it began.
Question: What were the three last Latin words spoken by Julius Caesar (according to Shakespeare, anyway)?
Buzz. “Et tu Brute.’’
Ten points.
Question: What is the largest river in Southeast Asia?
Buzz. The Mekong.
Ten points.
Question: What is the Great Pyramid of Giza made of?
Buzz. Limestone.
Ten points.
The action was intense and difficult to follow, as contestants from both teams hit the buzzer, in most cases, before Costa finished reading the question.
By the end of the first round, the score was 120 to 180, Sharon ahead.
In a nod to “Jeopardy!’’ Costa then asked each contestant about themselves - but with a twist.
If they had the choice, he queried, which founding father would they like to have as their father, and why: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, or George Washington?
Anbarasu: Washington. “He was a war hero, and it’d be nice to have a father who’s a war hero.’’
Riley: Franklin. “He flew a kite during a thunderstorm, so he’d probably let me do whatever I wanted.’’
The audience cheered and laughed.
The score remained close in the head-to-head round (Singh versus Hamilton-Wenham’s Chris Anderson, the two poised at a console with big red buzzers), but the championship team leaped ahead in the category round, which featured questions about The Beatles, fashion, Charles Dickens, famous ships, and the Cold War.
The final score: 530 to 195, Hamilton-Wenham.
As the winning team celebrated in the studio, Sharon’s players gathered once again in the green room, noticeably dejected.
“I’m a bit disappointed, but it was fun being here,’’ said Anbarasu, who also volunteers at Norwood Hospital. “It could’ve gone better.’’
“I was excited to have the chance to be there,’’ Mao agreed. “I thought the whole experience was a lot of fun.
“The show taught me that you never know where you might learn a piece of information that could be useful, so you should always be paying attention.’’

© 2012 The New York Times Company

Wedding Websites, 2.0

There's no doubt that wedding planning comes with a long and (what seems like) a never-ending to-do list. So creating and maintaining a wedding website can seem like a frivolous extra -- but experts and planners say it can actually simplify the planning process, and create a more intimate experience for your guests.

Read more of my story on the subject here, on page 34.

Byline: He's no Dennis the Menace

Breaking the mold

Plainville cartoonist draws notice with his new, edgy comic strip about a boy growing up in a single-parent household

By Taryn Plumb Globe Correspondent / February 16, 2012 

Dennis the Menace is a precocious, freckled, blond-haired (and notoriously mischievous) 5 1/2-year-old with a gorgeous stay-at-home mom and a dad who’s an aerospace engineer.

The four Family Circus kids are cute and cheeky, their innocent comments and meandering adventures prompting sighs and headshaking from their white-collar father and homemaking mother.

And Gil? He’s chubby, gap-toothed, not too bright, and his working-class parents are divorced.

The central character of a new syndicated comic strip penned by Plainville cartoonist Norm Feuti, the 8-year-old bucks the idealized tradition of the comic pages, representing the norm of many 21st-century American families.

“I always wanted to do a family strip that was more down-to-earth,’’ said 41-year-old Feuti, a full-time cartoonist who also created the syndicated comic “Retail.’’

Launched in January, “Gil’’ captures the daily life and innocent (and often TV- and video game-influenced) ponderings and affirmations of its namesake pre-teen protagonist.

An only child, he’s raised by his mom, Cheryl, a factory worker (symbolized by her Rosie the Riveter-like head scarf) who struggles to provide the necessities for her son; while on alternate weekends, he sees his schlumpy underachieving dad, Frank.

Meanwhile, Gil plays - and discusses life’s nagging questions - with his best friend, Shandra, a black girl, who, like him, is raised by one parent (in her case a single dad); and trades insults with his snotty, red-ponytailed classmate, Morgan.

Along the way, he gets average grades, sneaks sweets, and fantasizes, like most boys do, about robots, aliens, flying cars, and super powers.

“Immediately you love this kid,’’ said Tom Racine, the San Diego-based host of the entertainment podcast Tall Tale Radio, for which he’s interviewed more than 250 syndicated and Web cartoonists and animators.

Comparing Gil to Charlie Brown, he called him a “lovable loser.’’

He’s definitely an underdog, agreed Paul Gilligan, a Toronto-based cartoonist and friend of Feuti’s who created the syndicated strip “Pooch Cafe.’’ “He’s not a clear winning, alpha kid like Dennis the Menace.’’

Yet despite it all, he’s “always smiling.’’

Which is just the message Feuti, a father of two who came from a non-nuclear family himself, said he hopes to stress: “the resiliency and optimism of childhood.’’

And of parenthood, too. The comic addresses the difficulties of raising children alone: Cheryl drives a beater car because it’s all she can afford; she laments missing work when Gil is sick; and regrets not being able to buy him the latest gadgets or save up for his college education.

On the other hand, his father is intellectually limited, addicted to lottery tickets, and would rather fish, watch TV, or play poker with his friends than work or dispense useful advice to his son.

So ultimately, Gil has to accept that Frank is imperfect, Feuti said. “Not everybody’s dad is a hero.’’

These stark bits of reality are what give the strip its edge, Gilligan noted.

“The strip doesn’t shy away from the issues that created Gil’s world,’’ he said. “His mom really feels the pressure of making ends meet. His father is a bad role model. Yet it’s all handled with good humor.’’

As Feuti stressed, every family has its own issues (much like Tolstoy said) and the reality often isn’t “The Family Circus.’’

Even so, that’s been the longtime standard on the comics page.

From “Marmaduke,’’ to “Baby Blues,’’ to even “The Addams Family’’ (whose characters, though macabre, include happily married mom and dad Morticia and Gomez), Gilligan described a sort of “Victorian-era thinking’’ in what characters can say and do. For instance, swears are, not surprisingly, taboo, as are subjects such as vasectomies and plastic surgery.

Comics have a “long history of representing straightforward lifestyles and nuclear families,’’ he said, and are “behind the curve in showing anything outside of that.’’ But Gil, along with other strips like “Stone Soup’’ (whose characters include two single moms), is “helping to expand that territory.’’

“It’s one of those things where its time has come,’’ Racine agreed, calling “Gil’’ “truly one of the best things I’ve seen come along in years.’’

And since it was introduced in early January, it’s attracted attention from news outlets like Today.com and The New York Times, and has been picked up by the The Providence Journal, the Chicago Tribune, and The Oregonian, among others.

Ultimately, Feuti has achieved success in an increasingly difficult environment for comics, which have struggled for space as newspapers have grappled with the transition to the Web. Always a fan of the art form - as a child, he particularly like “Bloom County’’ and “Calvin and Hobbes’’ - he started his career with “Retail,’’ which has been syndicated since 2006, and is based on his experiences working in that industry for 15 years.

The inspiration for “Gil’’ was also personal. While Feuti was growing up, his parents already were divorced - he doesn’t even remember them ever being married - and he and his older sister were raised in rural Rhode Island by his mother, who, much like Cheryl, worked in a factory.

And his dad? Like Frank, he wasn’t really around.

“We didn’t have much,’’ Feuti shrugged as he sat in a studio in the basement of his Plainville home, outfitted with a drafting desk and neatly stacked bookcase, framed comics on the walls and a cat keeping watch from a perch on a desk chair. Nearby, “Retail’’ strips sat in the works: blown-up, black-and-white, characters with yet-to-be-filled-in bubbles above their heads, engaged in silent conversations that only the artist was in on.

But with many of his childhood friends also growing up in one-parent households, “it seemed normal to me,’’ he said. “I look back fondly on my childhood.’’

© Copyright 2012 Globe Newspaper Company.

Byline: CPA popularity wanes

Preservation tax losing steam

After a decade, community enthusiasm for once-popular program on the wane

By Taryn Plumb Globe Correspondent / February 12, 2012 

Hundred-acre sweeps of farmland. Iconic lighthouses keeping watch over the unsettled Atlantic. Buildings that embody a town’s heritage or date back to the founding of the country. Accessible housing. Well-used public spaces.

For a decade, the state’s Community Preservation Act has enabled cities and towns across the state to preserve natural treasures and open spaces, shore up historic resources, and provide funds for affordable housing.

Still, in recent years, the once voracious interest in the program has waned, particularly north of Boston, and its future vitality is uncertain, although efforts are underway to reinvigorate it.

There has been a “dramatic decline of communities adopting CPA,’’ said Stuart Saginor, executive director of the state Community Preservation Coalition, which oversees the 10-year-old program.

The biggest reason for this: a precipitous decline in matching money, he said.

The program, which allows cities and towns to opt in through a local vote, raises funds for historic, open-space, recreation, and affordable-housing projects through a local property tax surcharge (ranging from .05 percent to a maximum of 3 percent) and a yearly trust fund distribution from the state raised through a $20 fee placed on all real estate transactions in the Registry of Deeds. Cities and towns that adopt the program then set up a community preservation committee to administer those funds.

Often, to minimize the hit to taxpayers, cities or towns exempt low-income individuals, and/or the first $100,000 valuation of a given property. In a city like Gloucester (which has a 1 percent surcharge) the average additional cost for homeowners is $30 a year, according to community preservation committee cochair J.J. Bell.

In the first six years the CPA was in place - with the first round in October 2002 - participating communities received a 100 percent match. But over the years, as more communities adopted it and the housing market tumbled, that allocation dwindled, Saginor explained.

So in the most recent distribution cycle, last October, The match rate was 26.6 percent.

Simply put, Saginor said, “The decline of communities adopting CPA has mirrored the decline in the trust fund.’’

Still, matching funds or not, some communities are simply loath to further increase their taxes.

Over the years, roughly 15 local cities and towns, including Beverly, Malden, Marblehead, Salem, and Woburn, have voted down the CPA in local elections. And some that have adopted it are attempting to go in that direction: This May in West Newbury, voters will be asked to reduce the town’s surcharge from 3 percent to .05 percent, stemming from a controversy over whether CPA money could be used to help renovate the Dr. John C. Page School. (The town initially adopted CPA in 2006.) Norfolk will also be asking voters to reduce its surcharge on its May ballot.

Lynnfield, for its part, rejected an effort in April 2009 to adopt the CPA at the full 3 percent. Nan Hockenbury, chairwoman of the town’s historical commission, thinks the rejection was due to a lack of understanding about the program, as well as an impending override that year.
“Even though it was a small amount for the CPA, it just seemed like another tax,’’ she said. “People just didn’t understand that you’re paying a small amount of money for a much greater gain.’’

Gloucester, for its part, took a few tries: Measures to adopt it failed in 2001 and 2007, until voters approved it at a 1 percent surcharge in November 2008.

Since then, the city has raised more than $1.1 million, which has been used toward more than 20 projects, according to members of its community preservation committee.

Those include a $2.6 million bonded preservation of its 1871 city hall (expected to begin this spring); affordable-housing projects on Taylor Street; and money that helped conserve a 6.5-acre parcel adjacent to the Tompson Street Reservation.

But Sandy Dahl Ronan, cochairwoman of the city’s community preservation committee, said she understood the initial hesitation on the part of voters.

“It’s a real educational process, and it takes a long time for people to digest the concepts,’’ she said. Yet “in a time of such economic difficulties, we presented it as hope. We could still be doing something positive.’’

But at least when it comes to matching funds, an attempt to revive the program is now working its way through the Legislature; House Bill 765, An Act to Sustain Community Preservation, would regularly adjust the fee at the Registry of Deeds to provide a higher match, Saginor explained, and would also loosen some uses of CPA money.

The hope is that it will pass by the time the Legislature recesses in July.

Otherwise, he predicted, match rates - and, ultimately, enthusiasm - will continue to decrease.

To date, 148, or 42 percent of cities and towns, have signed on. Just one, Pelham, adopted it in 2011, and a half-dozen are looking at it this year (including upcoming votes in Canton and Freetown in the spring).

Still, more recently, interest from new communities has been mostly confined to the western and southeastern parts of the state, according to Saginor. The last north-of-Boston community in Massachusetts to adopt the CPA was Gloucester, in 2008.

That is a sharp contrast to a decade ago; the north region was essentially the pioneer when the CPA was first signed into state law in September 2000.

North Andover was the first to enact the measure at the full 3 percent surcharge (followed immediately by Bedford), and in the ensuing decade became one of its greatest success stories, to date raising nearly $19.5 million and funding dozens of projects.

In the years since, roughly 20 cities and towns north and northwest of Boston have opted in.

“It has vastly enhanced the ability to protect open space, preserve historic resources, and construct affordable housing,’’ said Bob Morse, cochairman of the committee that administers funds in Chelmsford, which enacted the CPA in 2001. “All three have benefited tremendously.’’

Some projects in the works across the region include the restoration of Old Town Hall in Tyngsborough; construction of new playing fields at Town Farm in North Andover; and affordable-housing planning in Tewksbury, among many others.

Chelmsford, meanwhile, is simultaneously rehabilitating three of its most historic buildings. For starters, there’s a $2.5 million project in the works to renovate and upgrade the town’s 1879 Old Town Hall, now the Chelmsford Center for the Arts, according to Morse. And right across the street, work is underway to restore the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church’s steeple and clock. Meanwhile, across town, the heavily deteriorated 1853 North Town Hall is undergoing a $2.85 million rehab; once completed, it will house an after-school youth center, Morse said.

The town is one of just four to raise its surcharge over the years, along with Manchester, according to the state’s database. Both increased their contributions from .05 percent to 1.5 percent - Chelmsford in 2007 and Manchester in 2010.

Ultimately, Morse said, “there are an awful lot of things that we just couldn’t do without CPA.’’

Dahl Ronan agreed, noting that the program gives cities and towns something positive to work with in an economically insecure time.

“There’s so much in the news that ‘we have to cut this, and we have to cut that,’ ’’ she said. “These are concrete projects that are able to be done. It touches many parts of the community.’’

Eventually, she said, the hope is to try to increase the surcharge, although there are no current plans to do so.

Lynnfield, for its part, may try once again, as well.

“There’s just a ton of stuff you can do with [CPA],’’ said Hockenbury. “It can help in small ways as well as with larger projects. It enriches your town.’’

© Copyright 2012 Globe Newspaper Company.