The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 17

South 3 THE BOSTON SUNDAY GLOBE MARCH 28, 1999 ElUSTAtIG buntKCurtains RETAIL SHOP CONVERTIBLE Before You Consider Custom, Consider Country Curtains! ViC Rent Some Fun! 1-800-696-VERC RENTALS Hundreds of traditional and contemporary styles, fabrics and colors to choose from for every style of home! More lengths and widths than you'll find almost anywhere ready-made and easy to hang. PLUS lamps, accessories and matching bedding. Wonderfully affordable decorating tfCT0F CALIFORNIA i Largest Selection in New England Mix Match all 2 pieces for the perfect suit and cups available Exclusive Diva Swimwear SPECIAL Orders Catalog Orders Tanning Special $3vst Saugus (Rtl) 781-233-6355 i i solutions! 'I Pembroke Crossing 13 Columbia Road (Route S3) Pembroke, MA 781-826-7722 lvww.countiycunaiiis.coin Weymouth (Rtl8) 781-340-1430 i'- i SHARON EAGLES SWlMJfAj(, -L 3 i S- -'5- i 1 Shop Hours: Mon-Wed Sat 10-6 Thu Fri 10-8 Sun 12-5 A 11-8 Wed.Fri 11-7 Sat 10-5, Sun. 12-5 GLOBE PHOTO KERRY BRETT Seth Klugherz, head coach of the Sharon Sea Eagles, talking with Caitlin Hawes, a Sharon High sophomore, at the swim-athon to raise funds for the Shriner's Burn Institute. As an infant, Hawes was treated for burns there.

iriWHWHHHWIM lOfllfflDl firm the takeover of a mega bank by another mega bank is a big deal. Those involved have decided to close 200 branch offices and sell $13 billion of your deposits. This deal could also leave you out in the cold. No place to be in a heated economy. For many businesses its decision time.

We're Rockland Trust Since 1907 we've been working with businesses throughout Southeastern As an independent community bank, we're committed to providing the services, products and personal attention you need to grow your business. This simple comparison shows why more and more business owners are doing business with us. Rockland fleet give something back to the community." This year, the group chose the Shriner's Burn Institute as its charity on the recommendation of team member Caitlin Hawes, a Sharon High School sophomore who had received treatment there when she was badly burned as an infant. Last weekend, the team members did their laps at the Randolph pool. Some covered three miles and were in the water for more than two hours.

"The swim-athon is a great way to end the season," said Blair. "It's a real good feel-good event." EXPANDED PARKING AT RAIL STATIONS Ever since the Old Colony Railroad opened in the fall of 1997, parking has been a headache at the Lake-villeMiddleborough station, which draws riders not only from the two towns but also from many communities to the south. The lot fills up quickly, and commuters squeeze into illegal spots in the lot or on roads outside the station area. "It has been oversubscribed since Day 1," said Robert Egan, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's senior project manager for the Old Colony Railroad. Relief is coming to the Lakeville-Middleborough station and also to the Halifax station, which has the most overcrowded parking on the Kingston branch of the railroad.

The MBTA is moving to expand both parking lots, and the work is scheduled to be done by next winter. The transit agency owns land next to both stations. About 300 spaces will be added to the 400-space LakevilleMiddleborough parking area. In Halifax, 100 spaces will be added to the 281 existing spots. Egan said that the new spaces should handle the traffic at the two stations, at least for the near future.

In Halifax, MBTA officials have counted at most 334 cars parked legally and illegally. Outside the LakevilleMiddleborough station, the owner of a private industrial park last month began towing illegally parked cars. Egan said the MBTA has put the parking lot expansions on the fast track. "By April 30, we hope to have the projects 100 percent designed. We'll award the contracts in July, and we hope to be parking on it by Christmas," he said.

Egan advises LakevilleMiddleborough riders who get shut out in the morning to head north to Bridgewater. The 500-space lot at the station there is only about 80 percent full most days, he said. CANTON HIGH MAY GET LIGHTS FOR FOOTBALL One of the last area high schools with darkened football fields could be seeing the light in the fall. A group of high school football supporters in Canton has raised money to install lights at the school field and is in the process of getting approvals from town boards. "I think it's time we had lights," said John Connolly, a Canton selectman and chairman of the ad hoc SMOOTHING THE WAY INTO BRIDGEWATER Route 104, Bridgewater's frayed connection to Route 24, is about to get some important repairs.

The Massachusetts Highway Department expects to start work this summer on a $1.2 million project to install traffic signals and turning lanes at the junction of Route 104, Old Pleasant Street, and Elm Street. Sidewalks also are to be built on Route 104, and improvements are slated for the Route 104-Prospect Street junction. Bridgewater's municipal administrator, David A. Canepa, said the work is badly needed. "Route 104 is one of the heaviest traveled roads in Bridgewater.

It ties the center of town to Route 24. The traffic in the morning is terrible," he said. The most serious problems usually occur at the junction with Old Pleasant and Elm streets. Some 25,000 cars a day pass through the intersection, which is controlled with flashing yellow lights. "They just don't work," said Canepa, a former member of the Bridgewater Board of Selectmen.

"I was on the board when we got those lights, and we thought it was beautiful. It was good for about six months." The state has awarded the contract to I.W. Construction Co. of West Bridgewater, which is scheduled to start work in the spring, with completion expected in the fall. Construction will make conditions worse before they get better, though.

"It is going to be difficult. There are going to be delays for a while," Canepa said. MAKING A SPLASH FOR CHARITY While many other children were strolling the malls last weekend or dusting off their bicycles after the long winter, a group of Sharon youngsters was swimming and swimming. About 35 members of the Sharon Rec Swim Team participated in the club's third annual swim-athon, held at the Randolph High School pool. The swimmers raised close to $5,000 for the Shriner's Burn Institute-Hospital for Children in Boston.

The town recreation swim club has members ranging in age from seven to 18. The team, known as the Sharon Sea Eagles, competes in the Vinter Suburban League, which includes teams from Walpole, Canton, Holbrook, and Norwood. At the end of the season, the Sharon team holds its fund-raising swim-athon. Members research various charities and then vote on which one to support. Then they solicit pledges from family and friends.

1 "From the beginning we wanted to bfi a little different," Said Barbara Spies Blair, an adult leader of the team. "We wanted to swim but also Trust boston Commercial Revolving Line of Credit Loans TermLoans Asset-Based Lending Cash Sweep Accounts Management PC Banking 'Lock Box Zero Balance Accounts Reconciliation Tax-Fax Wire Transfers Local Knowledge Commercial Commercial Checking Accounts Products Overdraft Protection 0UA Accounts Money Market Accounts Letters of Credit Quick Decisions Commercial Commercial Mortgages Mortgage Land Development Loans Construction 4 Specialty Lending Dealer Inventory Financing Small Business SBA Loan Programs Credit Line Availability As a business owner, you make decisions every day. Talk to one of our commercial lenders to find out how we can help. Then decide. We believe you'll find at Rockland Trust, it's the team that makes the difference.

Ell RocMand Trust Everyday We Make A Difference Main Office, 288 Union Rockland, MA 02370 1-800-826-6100 http:www.rockland-trust.com Commercial Lending Centers A i i ii i 1 nmtuuiu Diamine DrOCKton MlUUierjOro nuilll rcmuiunc iiyiuumu inuuuim ivui.k.uuiu (508)222-8033 (781)849-3026 (508) 580-3370 (508)946-8302 (781) 982-6683 (508) 830-3230 (781)986-9809 (781)982-6880 EMBER FOIC TOWNS, Page 11.