Once a week, Easton Patch Editor Patrick Maguire will open up his notebook and share his notes with you. If you have a question, comment, or opinion, share it in the comments section or email Patrick.Maguire@Patch.com. Many of Patrick's notes will be followed with a more in-depth article later in the week.

The retirement of Easton Fire Chief Tom Stone was made official last night at the Board of Selectmen meeting. Stone, whose last day with the department was Friday, was honored with a plaque for his service.

"It’s always been a spirit of cooperation and it's made my job a lot easier," he said. "I think this community spirit and the willingness to get along makes Easton one of the top 50 places to live in America."

Stone said it was strange waking up yesterday and not having to go to work.

In addition to Stone's retirement, the Selectmen had plenty to talk about last night. The board voted not to adopt the Massachusetts Municipal Health Insurance Act. By not adopting the act, the town will go into collective bargaining with the town's unions. Town Administrator David Colton said the town could achieve the same savings offered by the act ($73,000) through collective bargaining.

"My recommendation is we take a breath this year, we don’t implement a plan, we go into collective bargaining, we see what we can do, and we look at it again and see what we can do next year," he said.

Board members also discussed a Mobile Home Bylaw that will be up for vote at next Monday's Special Town Meeting, and they were updated on the Shovelshop Project. Colton also briefed the board on budget projections for FY2013. According to him, the town could see a three-percent overall increase in funds next year.

Make sure you check back with Easton Patch throughout the week to read more about what the board discussed.

Speaking of the board of selectmen, four people have officially pulled the paperwork to run for two available Selectmen seats during April's elections. Resident Michael Maloney, of 29 Partridge Way and Finance Committee member Patrick Goodman have pulled papers. Incumbents Colleen Corona and Dan Murphy have also pulled papers for the three year seats.

Walter Galas has pulled papers to once again run for a three-year term as Town Moderator and Colleen Less has pulled papers to be re-elected to a three-year School Committee term. Jennifer Nichols has pulled nomination papers for re-election to the board of health for a three-year term, and Dennis Sheedy has pulled nomination papers for re-election for a five-year term to the housing authority.

While the townspeople won't be voting on candidates until April, they'll have the chance to vote on town issues Monday night at Easton's Special Town Meeting. Look for Easton Patch to take a look at each of the nine articles that residents will be voting on throughout this week.

Patch will also update you on the school committee this week. Like the selectmen, the school committee will begin budget discussions for next year at its Thursday meeting.

Congratulations to Oliver Ames boys' basketball player Nick Bruha on earning his 1,000th point of his career last week. Congratulations, also, to wrestler Matt Harding, who obtained his 100th pinfall of his career over the weekend. Everyone at Easton Patch certainly wishes them the best in the future.

And, a final shout-out to the Easton Lions Club, for another successful live auction over last weekend.