children

Better together — a family’s story of giving

Better together — a family’s story of giving

Beth Treffeisen

It all started with a question that Jean and John Kingston had in 2005 when their eldest daughter turned 14: "Have we done a good enough job instilling in our children the values in which we believe?'" After much consideration, the Kingstons decided that it was not enough simply to talk about values with their children. They needed to provide them with experiences that would inculcate the virtues of generosity and sacrifice.

The Winchester couple, who met as freshmen at the University of Pennsylvania, began seeking out opportunities to serve their community side-by-side with their four children. The six members of the Kingston family came to think of themselves as "seeds" of generosity that they hoped would take root and flourish, improving the lives of others and encouraging other families around them to serve together. Based on this notion, the Kingstons started SixSeeds, a non-profit organization dedicated to sharing stories of service and connecting families to volunteer opportunities.

At 105, newest Cane holder stays young at heart
Massachusetts

At 105, newest Cane holder stays young at heart

Diane Kilgore

MARBLEHEAD – Alice McGill Tompkins, a 105-year-old resident of Lafayette Rehabilitation and Nursing Home, was recently presented the historic Boston Post Cane, in recognition of her status as the town's oldest living resident. In November, Marblehead Selectman Jackie Belf-Becker presented Tompkins with the cane and a plaque — a New England tradition that dates back more than 100 years.

In 1909, a year before Tompkins was born, The Boston Post newspaper asked 700 selectman from communities across Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island to present, on the paper's behalf, a cane to the eldest citizen of their respective towns. Exported from forests of equatorial West Africa, and made of Gaboon ebony, one of the world's most expensive lumbers, the canes were fashioned in New York by renowned cane maker J.F. Fradley. Once polished to a high luster, the canes were then heavily embellished with a 14-karat gold cap inscribed "As presented by The Boston Post to the Oldest Citizen of, [the town]."

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