There is trouble in Cohasset, MA.  Kids are having fun. They are jumping off the bridge just as other kids in Cohasset have been doing for decades.

According to PatriotLedger.Com...

It’s summertime and the kids are jumpin’ and splashin’. Bridge jumping is a summer tradition on the South Shore – a tradition that local safety officials want to put an end to. “Once you’ve done it you have to do it again and again,” said Robert Christie, 18, of Rockland. “We could do it six days a week.”

While the jumpers say it’s fun, local police say there are dangers, and Cohasset Police Chief James Hussey wants to begin enforcing a town bylaw that prohibits bridge jumping.

Yup, I agree it. Bridge jumping can  be dangerous.

In July 2006, a 16-year-old girl struck her head on a metal support beam when she jumped from the Julian Street bridge in Humarock.

A couple of years earlier, a youth had to be taken to a hospital after jumping off the Marshfield Avenue bridge in Humarock and landing on a boat. In Cohasset, another jumper broke a leg hitting a boat.

But, they do take precautions.

Veteran jumpers give advice to novices, like where to jump to avoid rocks, to be careful jumping from the railing, which can be slippery, and to watch for boats.

Boats usually sound their horns if children are on the North River bridge, and jumpers watch out for each other, yelling “boat” when one approaches.

Bridge jumpers seem to be roughly 14 to 25, but last weekend, a 70 year old man with a bushy beard paddled up in a canoe and dove from the North River bridge.

Sounds like generational bonding to me.

 Every city should be so lucky to have such an activity.

Not all local positions are elected. Many citizen appointments are made to Boards, Committees and Commissions.

Making these appointments are one of the worst parts of the job of being the Mayor, Chairman or Top Dog in charge. Finding someone who will being willing to serve and is at least somewhat knowledgeable of the subject area.

According to Bill Graham at KansasCity.Com, Kansas City is looking for a new Park Board member. Mr. Graham has quite the laundry list of qualifications for the new Park Board member.

Besides being from the Northland for geographic balance of the Board the list starts out with ...

• The new appointee needs to be someone who actually visits and uses city parks.

• A plus would be someone who has worked on park issues before, as a volunteer at individual parks or on committees trying to resolve park issues.

Most any city would be happy to find someone to serve who met those basic qualifications. But, this list continues...

• A big plus will be someone who knows the difference between wood chip, gravel and paved hiking trails because they’ve walked on them.

• We need someone who knows the difference between big bluestem prairie grass and non-native fescue, and why Burr Oaks are hardier and more important to our area than non-native pine trees.

Do you think Mr. Graham is done? The list continues...

• We welcome someone with ideas on how to help make the parks not only be safe, but feel safe as well.

• It would be nice if the next Northland person on the board was willing to talk to the media and the public, even when controversy is brewing.

Is everyone reading still qualified? I would have been knocked out by now. That "grass" thing and having to have police ideas did me in.

Finally...

• Give me someone pragmatic, honest and active

He concludes by saying...

This is a long lists of traits, but not unreasonable. I suspect there are several Northlanders who fit these qualifications.

I suspect he is wrong.

“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”

I thought of that old Greek Proverb when I recently read an article in American Profile Magazine.

It was a fascinating article about Michael Giudici who has planted over 9,000 trees during the past 27 years around  Davenport, Iowa.

It seems most cities have at least one tree lover who keeps people like me who loves concrete and blacktop in check. I reluctantly admit the people like me do need to be reigned  in at times.

Why does Mr. Giudici do this? Why does he spend hours and hours of his "free time" planting trees?

When asked about his tree-planting devotion, Giudici says he simply cares about his hometown. “I grew up here,” he says. “I want to do what I can to improve my community.”

There aren't enough citizens like Mr. Giudici around.

A couple of days ago I wrote about a freak accident which injured the Superintendent of Parks in my hometown.

I regret to inform you that Dale didn't make it. He started working for the City at the age of 17, maintaining ball fields. Over the course of the next 27 years he worked his way to the top. Working for the City Parks Department is all he ever wanted to do and he was damn good at it.

I know you have a "Dale" in your community. Every community does.

I hope you don't lose yours, like we lost ours.

I often refer to government/politics, including local government/politics, as a combat sport. Conflict arises on every issue. There are winners and losers on every issue. Then when you least expect it, something happens which puts all that conflict into perspective. My hometown had such an incident last week.

The Parks crew was in the process of cleaning up some public property. The site was formerly the location of a steel company. It is a long story how that property became public property, but it did.

One of the crew was on a riding lawn mower. The mower shot a piece of metal through the air and it lodged in the head of the boss.

Dale is a "Mountain of a Man" in not just physical stature. I honestly don't know anyone who knew Dale, that didn't like him. That is hard enough for anyone to do, but especially someone who is a public employee. Because, like I said, local government/politics is a combat sport. Living and working in the public eyes is not easy. Your every word and action is open to scrutiny.

I just returned home from getting the Monday Morning update on Dale. It doesn't sound good. One of his co-workers told me that everywhere he went over the weekend, all everyone wanted to know was Dale's condition.

It is very unfortunate it takes a freak accident like this to put all that local political conflict into perspective.

Every community has the same problems, just at different times, and on different scales. I guess it was just our turn for this type of problem to happen to us. But, it doesn't make it any easier to deal with, knowing that freak accidents happen everywhere, and this was just our turn.

It kind of makes the issue of if a yard sign in is the Right of Way, or whatever, seem irrelevant doesn't it?