March 10, 2025 By Carol Britton Meyer
Welcome to “Five Minutes With” – Anchor’s new feature to help us get to know our neighbors. Everyone has a unique story to tell, so let’s get to know each other a bit more! Have someone you’d love to spend five minutes getting to know? Email us at info@hinghamanchor.com.
Carol Britton Meyer recently connected with Hingham Town Clerk Carol Falvey. You can learn more about Carol below — what her job involves, her favorite vacation destination, and what she enjoys doing most in her spare time!
Role in community: Town Clerk
What your work involves: Our office issues all vital certificates which include birth, marriage and death certificates. Folks who want to get married file their intentions in our office. We register voters in the town, run all state and local elections, and process all the absentee and early voting ballots associated with those elections. 2024 was an unbelievably busy year for us with four elections. Couldn’t have made it through without my dedicated staff. We post all meeting notices in accordance with the Open Meeting Law, license businesses, dogs, and raffles, we receive and respond to all public record requests, coordinate the annual street listing census, offer historical research, and serve as the parking violation clerk. We are involved with Town Meeting and responsible for filings withthe attorney general after the meeting. We also respond to telephone calls and walk-ins asking for help, direction, and information, and we offer a listening ear to many.
Your favorite part of your job as town clerk: I would say this falls into two buckets: first, interacting with people from all parts of my life: neighbors growing up on Bel Air Road, old classmates from Hingham High School, colleagues from my years on the school committee, local Hingham shop owners, and all the chairs of the committees and boards who help to run Hingham! The other interesting part of the role is the problem solving that goes on every day: working with the Secretary of the Commonwealth, the Registry of Vital Records, town counsel. and my fellow department heads at Town Hall when questions arise.
Check us out at https://www.hingham-ma.gov/409/Town-Clerk.
What you hope to/have accomplished so far in these roles:
- In the Spring of 2022, we introduced the use of Poll Pads to check in voters for all elections, and it was a good transition. Voters were excited to see the technology and embraced the use.
- During the local election season, I post a weekly update when there is news to share on who has pulled nomination papers, returned them, etc. I’ve received a lot of favorable comments on these notifications. It helps to keep those who want to be in the know connected. If you are interested in receiving the notification, sign up here https://www.hingham-ma.gov/list.aspx.
- 2024 was all about the four elections. My goal was that they would be free, fair, secure, and uneventful. There was a lot of planning that went into that effort and included different departments in town; we all worked seamlessly together. That was my goal for 2024, and we accomplished it.
What makes Hingham unique? Its history, level of citizen involvement, commitment to the community, and its waterfront and proximity to Boston and Logan Airport. And the commuter boat to Boston- best way to travel!
What do you enjoy most doing in your spare time? We love to cook in my family! Sundays are usually filled with cooking a great dinner and prepping for the week ahead. I’m so pleased that my adult kids have followed our example; they are awesome chefs themselves. And my husband, Mark, is the bread baker in the family. Here we are preparing slow cooker braised short ribs for 24 people on Christmas Day!
Favorite Hingham restaurant and meal: So hard to choose among so many outstanding venues! These are some of my favorites dishes, served with a nice glass of oaky chardonnay — At the Square Cafe, I love the seared tuna tacos and all the salads; at Caffe Tosca, the Bolognese is a family favorite along with the wood-grilled pizzas; at Legal’s the grilled salmon and Firecracker Rolls are my go-tos; and most recently, we tried Ironwood at South Shore Country Club. They tucked my siblings and their spouses in a comfy corner. The menu was great and the space quiet enough so we could hear each other!
Favorite Hingham local spot: First of all, there is no place like home!! But beyond that, I enjoy walking from Talbots to the Harbor area along North Street and then up and down the waterfront walkway adjacent to the beach/harbor. We are so blessed to be living in a beautiful coastal community, and even though we are not boaters, I just love being close to the Harbor, especially at high tide. Here is one of my favorite spots:
Favorite vacation destination: South Beach on Martha’s Vineyard and visiting my daughter and son-in-law in the Washington DC area! They are restaurant foodies and introduce us to all that the DC food scene has to offer.
Interesting fact about yourself that others may not know about: I played Ado Annie in the senior class production of “Oklahoma!” at the College of the Holy Cross. I had not performed in any theatrical shows in college and took a chance trying out for the show. Who knew how much fun it would be! Sometimes, you just have to put yourself out there.