John J. Lopes

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John J. Lopes, 83, of Marion, died April 16, 2018 in St. Luke’s Hospital, New Bedford. He was the husband of Joanne A. (Rezendes) Lopes and the son of the late George and Minnie (Lopes) Lopes.

He was born in New Bedford and lived in Marion for many years.

Mr. Lopes worked as a Machine Operator in the area before retiring.

He was an amateur boxer.

Survivors include his wife, Joanne A. (Rezendes) Lopes of Marion; his son, John Lopes of Dartmouth; his granddaughter, Ashley M. Melita of Acushnet; his former daughter-in-law, Sandra Lopes of Westport. He was the grandfather of the late John Lopes.

His graveside service was held on Saturday, April 21, 2018 in Evergreen Cemetery, Converse Road & Rte. 6, Marion.

Board Signs Bond Anticipation, Renews Another

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The Marion Board of Selectmen on April 11 authorized a new bond anticipation note (BAN) for $2,233,000 – the estimated cost to improve one of the sludge lagoons at the wastewater treatment plant.

Town Meeting had voted two years ago to approve the sum, said Finance Director Judith Mooney during the special meeting held that Wednesday afternoon, adding that the $2,233,000 is an approximate total for the project. The actual cost could vary slightly once the time comes for the Town to finalize the bond with the lender.

The board renews its outstanding BANs on an annual basis until the actual cost of the project becomes known and that final cost can be borrowed in the form of a bond.

“You don’t want to borrow the full amount if you don’t have to,” said Mooney.

Town Administrator Paul Dawson said the BAN’s low interest rate of 1.75% is undoubtedly due to the Town’s AAA bond rating.

Selectmen also voted to renew another BAN totaling $2,650,056 – a preexisting BAN for the Great Hill water tower, the fire pumper truck, and the Mary’s Pond well replacement – effective April 19, 2018 to October 19, 2018 with an interest rate of 1.65%.

Dawson, Mooney, and Treasurer Gary Carreiro advised the selectmen that by renewing the BAN for only six months, the Town could then combine it with an existing $5.5 million bond for the police station and Benson Brook water tower when it is ready for refinancing in October.

Combining the new BAN with the bond could save the Town over $300,000, “Which is pretty substantial,” Mooney said.

“We’re always looking for refunds,” said Mooney, and if interest rates remain low, the Town will follow through with the refinance and combining of the BAN.

The last time the Town refinanced a bond was in 2010, saving the Town about $500,000 on the Sippican School renovation project.

Marion Board of Selectmen

By Jean Perry

 

ORR Baseball to Bounce Back From Slow Start

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Last season wasn’t typical Old Rochester baseball, finishing 10-11. They’re without Sam Henrie and Will Hopkins, who’ve gone on to play for Southern New Hampshire University and Suffolk University, respectively.

            On top of that, the Bulldogs now have Somerset-Berkley in the South Coast Conference Large Division, in addition to Apponequet, who appear to be this year’s favorite, and Dighton-Rehoboth, who always produce a quality team.

            “We’re always a pretty competitive team,” Old Rochester coach Steve Carvalho said. “I know Apponequet’s tough and Dighton’s still Dighton, regardless of what goes on. But I think we have a fighting chance as much as anyone. I’m plugging some holes, but I see us in the mix competing for the SCC Large (title).

            “I think the league is fairly well-balanced. So even though we’re behind the eight-ball, I’m optimistic that teams are going to beat each other up.”

            In the past, SCC teams had 18 conference matchups, but with the Large and Small division separation, they now only have 13, with only one matchup against opponents from the other division counting towards the conference record.

            The Bulldogs have already played two of those 13 SCC matchups and are off to a less-than-ideal start, dropping contests against Seekonk and Dighton-Rehoboth.

            A slow start, however, doesn’t mean Old Rochester’s season is at an end. Carvalho expects there to be some growing pain, given he graduated Henrie, Hopkins and catcher John Breault in 2017.

Looking at the starting rotation first, he has senior Mike Kennefick at the top of the rotation, with senior David Arruda slated as the No. 2. After that, things get a bit hazy.

“I think the Kennefick-Arruda one-two punch puts us in a position to be successful weekly; they’re both solid varsity pitchers,” Carvalho said. “(Junior) Adam Breault pitched very well against Seekonk in relief. Him and (junior) Nate Kvilhaug are three-four, four-three. I put Breault a little ahead of Kvilhaug because he pitched in legion, has a little more experience. Once you get into three, four games a week they’re both going to be starting some games.”

Looking at the offense, Carvalho expects senior shortstop Jake Asiaf and junior centerfielder Chris Labelle, along with Breault, who’s also the Bulldogs’ cleanup hitter. Labelle’s already off to a hot start, going 3 for 4 against Somerset with a double and a RBI.

“Labelle’s been our most consistent offensive player so far,” Carvalho said. “And Breault has been hitting the ball hard. It’s only a matter of time for him.”

Following a midday Wednesday matchup at Apponequet, Old Rochester (1-2, 0-2 SCC) hosts Fairhaven on Friday at 10:30 am.

Old Rochester girls’ lacrosse is off to a strong start, earning its first SCC win with a 16-1 finish against GNB Voc-Tech on Friday, improving to 2-0 overall on the season.

Maggie Carroll, Madison Cooney and Alex Fluegal each had a hat trick in the win over the Bears. Katherine Tracey and Mackenzie Good scored two goals apiece for the Bulldogs as well.

After the 10:30 am contest against Dighton-Rehoboth on Wednesday, the Bulldogs visit Bourne on Friday at 10:30 am.

Old Rochester boys’ lacrosse won its first game of the season with a 17-0 in over GNB Voc-Tech. Pat Kiernan scored four goals in the win, while Luke Hebert and Alex Lorenz each finished with three goals apiece.

The Bulldogs visit Dighton-Rehoboth on Wednesday at 10:30 am and host Bourne on Friday at 10:30 am.

Old Colony

Cougars girls’ lacrosse is fresh off a 15-11 win over Norton, improving to 3-0 on the year.

Both Molly Lankowski and Elana Sargent scored four goals for the Cougars. Mya Medeiros and Raquel Rodrigues had big games as well, scoring three goals each.

Old Colony is back at it against Norton, this time at home, at 11:00 am on Thursday.

Boys’ lacrosse shut out Bishop Connolly in a 7-0 win, bringing their record to 3-2 (2-2 Mayflower Athletic Conference) on the year. Ethan Harrop was the only Cougar to finish with multiple goals, scoring two.

The Cougars will host Sacred Heart on Tuesday at 3:30 pm.

Baseball suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of GNB Voc-Tech. The Cougars, though, are still 4-1 on the year, 3-0 in the Mayflower Athletic Conference.

Reese Vandal and Matt Bumpus are off to a tremendous start, hitting .615 and .600, respectively, through four games. Drew Sullivan is also playing well, hitting .533, leading the team with eight RBI and five doubles.

Following an 11:00 am visit to Bristol Plymouth on Wednesday, Old Colony hosts Dartmouth at 11:00 am on Friday.

High School Sports Update

By Nick Friar

 

Mattapoisett Woman’s Club Scholarships

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Mattapoisett Woman’s Club is pleased to offer two $2,500 scholarship awards to Mattapoisett residents who are high school seniors, graduating June 2018.

In addition there will be a $1,000 scholarship granted to a Mattapoisett resident who is reentering the academic world after graduation and is in pursuit of a post secondary degree. Contact information is below.

The Mattapoisett Woman’s Club is a philanthropic organization that plans and executes fundraising events to help generate the revenue for these scholarships and other charitable donations. In offering these scholarships, the club supports educational leadership and helps to support the community whom has partnered with the club in its fundraising efforts.

For high school seniors, the scholarship application will be available in the guidance offices at the local high schools, preparatory schools, or from the Woman’s Club. Deadline for returning the completed application is April 30, 2018.

Applications are available at the following schools: Old Rochester Regional High School, Bishop Stang High School, Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School, Tabor Academy, and Bristol County Agricultural High School.

Final deadline for returning completed applications is April 30, 2018. No one will be considered after this date.

If you have any further questions, you may contact the Mattapoisett Woman’s Club at P.O. Box 1444, Mattapoisett, MA 02739.

Science@Work Lecture on Biodiversity

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Tabor Academy is pleased to welcome David Remsen, Director of Marine Research Services at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, MA. This last lecture of the 2017-2018 Series is entitled “What biodiversity tells us about ourselves and the world around us: the MBL way.”

The Marine Biological Laboratory has been hosting scientific research and advanced educational topics for 130 years. As Director of Marine Research Services, Remsen oversees the marine biological operations at the laboratory including the collection and welfare of a wide range of marine species.

Remsen grew up in and around Woods Hole and first started his career at the MBL as an undergraduate SCUBA diver for the facility he now directs. For more than two decades, Remsen has combined and applied his love of marine biology within the field of biodiversity informatics, the applied use of technology on data and information pertaining to biodiversity. Dave returned to the Cape in 2012 after working in Copenhagen, Denmark, as a senior officer of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, a multi-governmental organization dedicated to providing access to the world’s biodiversity data. He is also a senior member of the board of the Catalogue of Life, an international effort to document all of the world’s species.

Employing the marine biodiversity of our region as a menu of biological systems, Remsen will present familiar and perhaps not-so-familiar marine species and introduce us to how and why they hold the key to some of the biological mysteries that can affect our lives.

Please join the Tabor Community for this free and open lecture held at the school’s Lyndon South Auditorium at 232 Front Street, Marion, in the Stroud Academic Center at 6:30 pm on April 23.

RLT Electronics Recycling Event

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The Rochester Land Trust, in conjunction with The Rochester Women’s Club’s Earth Day Cleanup, is holding an Electronics Recycling Event on Saturday, April 21from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm at the Women’s Club, 37 Marion Road in Rochester. This is event is open to all, Rochester and non-Rochester residents alike.

The company the RLT contracts with for this service charges fees for certain items as follows:

– Wood Console TVs: $35

– Televisions (27 inches and over): $30

– Televisions (under 27 inches): $20

– CRT Tube Monitors: $20

– Flat Screen Monitors/Laptops: $5

*TVs include all types – CRT, LCD, Plasma, LED Backlit, Flat Panel, etc.

All other household appliances, metal objects, computer components and computers are free to be recycled, but RLT will gratefully accept donations to continue their good work of purchasing and maintaining open space in Rochester.

So feel good, do something for your Mother, and clean out some of that junk that is weighing you down. Bring it all to the RLT recycling event on Saturday, April 21, 9:00 am – 1:00 pm at the Women’s Club, 37 Marion Road, Rochester.

For more information, call 706-675-5263.

Budgets Advance to Town Meeting Warrant

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The work of crafting a municipal budget is not for the faint of heart. Consider the numerous details each Town department must document – from pencils to life saving equipment, from salaries and pay scales to heavy equipment, from fresh water production to sewer systems – and the word ‘daunting’ comes to mind. As Mattapoisett Town Administrator Michael Gagne said, “Rome wasn’t built in a day or with municipal funds.”

Yet the bigger picture that all the numbers and calculations add up to is quality of life. And for the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen, quality of life along with making the numbers work was evident when they met with various department heads to review FY19 budget proposals on April 17.

Take for instance the Highway Department. Highway Superintendent Barry Denham proposed a FY19 budget of $775,604, less than 1% over FY18 that stood at $730,000. But before long, the conversation turned to matters much more aesthetic, much more historically significant to the community – protecting the arch stone bridge on River Road.

Denham said the bridge had sustained some damage in March when a long-haul tractor-trailer driver attempted to cross the bridge but couldn’t make the turn. He said he had tapped the services of Jon Connel of Field Engineering to study the north approach to the bridge to try and come up with a solution.

Selectman Tyler Macallister thought that with the completion of the two commercial solar fields on Crystal Springs Road, truck traffic would decrease making it unnecessary to spend money now on studying a new approach. Denham, however, thought, “At least we have to find out” what can be done.

Selectman Paul Silva questioned why additional signage couldn’t be posted that would limit the size and weight of trucks on the bridge. But Denham didn’t think additional signage would adequately resolve the problem.

Returning to the issue of the bridge later in the evening, Silva said, “I agree we’ve got to maybe do something with the turn there, but the bridge isn’t geared for that kind of traffic.”

Gagne said he’d look into whether or not a local ordinance was possible, one that might limit truck traffic as well as impose possible fines for drivers found in violation of size and weight restrictions. Silva said, “I want to protect the bridge as much as we can.”

Denham also discussed continuation of roadway improvement projects, noting a pavement overlay on Acushnet Road was planned. Denham also said the Highway Department roadway improvement list included drainage projects at West Hill Road and LeBaron Estates, as well as pursuing grant money for the reconfiguration of the intersection at Brandt Island Road and Route 6.

The Highway Department barn renovations were discussed with Denham pointing out how the structure could be modified to add two new bathrooms, office space, and a break room. He estimated the cost of the repairs at $225,000.

The selectmen and Gagne discussed another area where quality of life came into the equation when Gagne said that the state office overseeing the senior housing in town wouldn’t support paying for a generator.

Silva said, “We can’t have our seniors freezing.”

Gagne said he wanted to look into having an interconnect system installed on the property to allow a portable generator to be put in place in times of power outages. He said that during recent storms, first responders were faced with the possibility of having to evacuate the residents due to lack of heating.

Selectman Jordan Collyer said a letter should be sent to legislators asking for their assistance in getting someone at the state level to assist. Gagne was instructed to send a letter to Representative William Straus.

On the theme of quality of life and safety, Gagne said he wanted to advance a bylaw at Town Meeting that would make it illegal to push snow off private property onto public ways. He said it was a safety issue for all concerned. The selectmen were in agreement.

Also coming before the selectmen was Harbormaster Jill Simmons for the Waterfront Enterprise Fund. She described the level of destruction the wharves, floats, pilings, and ramps had sustained over the harsh winter season before discussing the need for appropriate watercraft.

Simmons said the harbormaster boat had also sustained damage and reiterated what she has shared in other meetings – that it is not the right craft for the types of activities her department is tasked with doing. She said she wanted to propose a bond at Town Meeting for approximately $134,000 to purchase a boat. Simmons also said that a boat for shallow water work was also necessary given the inlets and close shore duties she is faced with.

Gagne agreed that a small boat for shallow waters was needed, but that the issue of a larger safety boat was more all encompassing. He said that revenue sources and grants needed to be researched, but that infrastructure work needed on the wharves needs to be included in the budget discussion.

Silva said, “You have to look at the whole package,” and asked Gagne to take a deeper dive into the harbormaster’s budget proposal. The Waterfront Enterprise Fund budget proposal for FY19 is $241,665 versus the FY18 figure of $234,883.

Police Chief Mary Lyons presented the Police Department and ambulance budgets with modest increases. FY19 is penciled in at $2,201,639, $27,802 over FY18. The ambulance proposed budget shows a $6,378 increase from FY18 to $377,172 for FY19.

Mattapoisett Public Library Director Susan Pizzolato met briefly with the selectmen presenting a budget proposal of $468,716, $19,816 over FY18.

Rounding out the evening was the Water and Sewer Departments budgets. Henri Renauld, superintendent, said he would be asking Town Meeting to approve the purchase of some 200-plus acres of land situated near well No. 2. He said the purchase price of $250,000 could be achieved through a combination of funds raised from grants in partnership with the Buzzards Bay Coalition, Mattapoisett River Valley Water District, and approximately $150,000 from the Town of Mattapoisett.

Renauld also discussed the new water supply system available to landscapers that allows them safe access to water for their business activities. He said landscapers simply needed to contact the office, but that the process required yearly inspection of tanks used in the transportation of fresh water for a small fee.

Silva said that this was a relatively safe way for landscapers to access the water they needed for their businesses. He said it was not a moneymaker for the Town, but a solution to businesses needing to secure water.

The Water Department budget proposal as presented by Renauld for FY19 is $2,333,719 versus FY18 $1,951,407, and the Sewer Department FY19 $2,337,465 versus FY18 $2,318,394.

The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen is scheduled for April 24 at 6:30 pm in the town hall conference room.

Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen

By Marilou Newell

 

The Cure for Ignorance

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Right this very second, someone out there is sipping a glass of pee in the name of good health. Meanwhile, someone else out there strives for health by swallowing liters of a fermented cabbage juice containing as much sodium as seawater with side effects such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, all “signs” that the treatment is “working” to rid their bodies of pathogens and parasites.

Throughout history, people have committed some strange acts in the name of good health. Take trepanation, for example. For centuries, doctors drilled holes in our skulls to release the demons, the cause of headaches and of mental illness, because back then we thought, “Gosh, that really makes sense.”

For practically two thousand years, doctors drained us of our blood as a way to treat everything that ailed us, and that made sense because without an understanding of circulation, that old blood could stagnate in our limbs. Even after we discovered the circulatory system, we still did it because we had no other explanation for disease. George Washington himself was drained of about forty percent of his blood to alleviate the inflammation of a sudden throat infection – the night he died! So go ahead and laugh at our ignorance, because even the greatest men in history hadn’t a clue.

It’s 2018 and some things look the same. There are still people walking around on an Earth they think is flat. A lot of people – including a big chunk of Congress – deny climate change is happening. And I’ll never get over just how many people will share a Facebook post that states that in X amount of days the moon with replicate itself 37 times and be visible from Earth, a phenomenon that won’t be seen again until the year 2345.

And we all thought the Internet was going to make us smarter. Sure, the Internet gives us 101 do-it-yourself project idea for pallets, and now anyone with a smartphone can disprove any person’s ludicrous claim faster than he can finish saying “…It’s true, I saw it on the Internet.”

Back in 2004 when the Internet was still a novelty, being connected online made it possible for me to notice that my 15-month-old son was showing signs of autism. I was able to research what autism was, find local resources for support, locate doctors, clinics, and learn about available treatments.

I understand desperation in relation to health. I’ve lived without health insurance and I’ve sat at a big round table as specialists and doctors diagnosed my baby with autism, a condition that couldn’t be ‘cured.’ And when I went home, I researched what other parents were doing for their kids and I encountered ‘miracles’ and ‘treatments’ that parent testimonials claimed made their Autistic kids start talking and learning. I even wanted to believe them, spending hundreds on different vitamins, fish oils, digestive enzymes, and probiotics. That scarier stuff – chelation, injections, herbs that couldn’t be properly regulated or verified – I couldn’t justify the risk.

But that was a long time ago. I know better now.

And that’s what we say when we think about the barbaric practices of trepanning, bloodletting, and lobotomies. That was a long time ago. We know better now.

But there’s still a problem. All of us don’t actually know better because somewhere out there right now someone is forcing their Autistic child to drink (and even take in the form of toxic enemas) an industrial bleach as a way of curing autism, ‘discovered’ by a man who claims he was sent from a “Planet of the Gods” in the Andromeda galaxy. Somewhere there is another parent buying into one crackpot woman’s false claim that her particular fermented cabbage water can cure a number of different conditions and even reverse the symptoms of autism, Down syndrome even, and other “special needs” disorders, and making their Autistic child drink it while actually making her physically sick and dehydrated from excessive sodium intake.

Parents desperate to ‘cure’ their child’s autism are being conned out of their money. But what’s even crueler is the false hope that drives some parents to withhold vaccinations, thinking that they can prevent autism from ‘stealing away’ their child while putting him at risk for preventable diseases. The real victims of the cruelty are the children whose parents are implementing a host of dangerous, unproven, abusive treatments misguided by the notion that autism is a condition curable by seeming cutting edge bio-treatments and those DIY home remedies from the Internet they believe the pharmaceutical industry is trying to keep hidden from us.

I wish the insanity stopped there, but it doesn’t. Chelation, a common treatment for lead and mercury poisoning, despite the absence of scientific evidence, is still used to remove what some people believe are the heavy metals and toxins deposited by vaccines in the bodies of autistic children, even though the doctor who recklessly declared that vaccines cause autism had his medical license revoked and eventually retracted his claim.

Groups with ominous names like “Defeat Autism Now” and “Generation Rescue” tout chelation as a safe, essential treatment for autism with “proven scientific benefits.”

It’s mind-blowing what we humans cling to out of sheer desperation.

The pseudoscience of chelation therapy as an autism treatment is administered via IV, sprays, drops, and suppositories, and results in some serious side effects like headaches, vomiting, convulsions, fever, and a sudden drop in blood pressure. Risks include cardiac arrest, kidney failure, and death.

Some parents took the chelation step to a whole new level of atrocious, convinced by ‘experts’ that the rising testosterone levels of their developing sons were binding to the mercury in the body (no scientific evidence), preventing it from being removed and thus hindering the chelation process. The involuntary chemical castration of the child was their solution.

I think about why someone might believe fermented cabbage water could kill an imaginary yeast infection throughout the body that apparently causes all of our illnesses, including cancers, as often as I think about things like, why is autism perceived as a defect, something to be fixed? Is that perhaps the more defective thinking? Is not ‘disability’ a natural part of the human experience? Is drinking pee, for that matter?

There is an expanding paradigm shift in the perception of disability as a natural part of human diversity without negative connotation.

The group Identity-First Autistic does a great job presenting this concept to the world as the “disability models.” They shatter the existing disability paradigm by presenting disability as not something that is inherent in a person, but something that comes as a result of how they are perceived.

The medical model of disability refers to people who are disabled by their physical impairments or differences. Under this model, these people need to be “fixed” by medical treatments, regardless of whether the disabled person is suffering or in pain. It focuses on what is ‘wrong’ with the person, placing limitations instead of providing them with what they need in order to be independent and in control of their lives and their destiny.

Then there is the social model of disability. Here, the disability is created as a direct result of the way society is organized, resulting in systemic barriers to the individual – negative perceptions and exclusion, both intentional and unintentional. Here it means society is the main contributing factor that ‘disables’ people.

Autism may include sensory, intellectual, and developmental variations that can cause functional impairment, but as Identity-First Autistic puts it, “these do not have to lead to disability unless society fails to take account of, and include people regardless of their individual differences.”

But where do we begin to change all that? It could begin, for starters, with the medical professional. As the doctor, we parents of newly diagnosed Autistic children look to you for information, and when you tell us, “Your child has autism,” you are essentially setting us up with the perception that that is negative, a disorder that is a defect in my child’s brain – as if he would be someone else without this disorder. Perhaps this paradigm would decrease some parents’ desperate attempts to cure their child’s autism with dangerous pseudoscience instead of accommodating the Autistic child’s unique needs in this life.

So, society, it seems that the ‘cure’ starts with us and with our perpetuated ignorance-based approach to disability. And that can’t be treated with a glass of pee or a fermented vegetable, or bloodletting. We need another ‘cure’ for autism like we need another hole in the head.

This Imperfect Life

By Jean Perry

 

Thank You Police and EMTs

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To the Editor:

The friends and family of Ethel Wall would like to thank our Police and EMTs of Mattapoisett for their quick and professional response to her call for help in her home emergency. It is because of them that our Ethel is alive and doing well.

A heart-felt thanks to you all.

Joyce Almeida, Mattapoisett

 

The views expressed in the “Letters to the Editor” column are not necessarily those of The Wanderer, its staff or advertisers. The Wanderer will gladly accept any and all correspondence relating to timely and pertinent issues in the great Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester area, provided they include the author’s name, address and phone number for verification. We cannot publish anonymous, unsigned or unconfirmed submissions. The Wanderer reserves the right to edit, condense and otherwise alter submissions for purposes of clarity and/or spacing considerations. The Wanderer may choose to not run letters that thank businesses, and The Wanderer has the right to edit letters to omit business names. The Wanderer also reserves the right to deny publication of any submitted correspondence.

Sippican Historical Society

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In 1998, the Sippican Historical Society commissioned an architectural survey of Marion’s historic homes and buildings. The survey was funded one-half by the Sippican Historical Society and one-half by the Massachusetts Historical Commission. Because of the limits of funding, not all of the historic buildings were surveyed, but over 100 were catalogued and photographed. The results of the survey are in digital form on the Massachusetts Historical Commission’s website and in four binders in the Sippican Historical Society’s office (and at the Marion Town Clerk’s office). Marion (Old Rochester) is one of the oldest towns in the United States, and the Sippican Historical Society maintains an extensive collection of documentation on its historic buildings. The Sippican Historical Society will preview one building a week so that the residents of Marion can understand more about its unique historical architecture. This installment features 8 Spring Street.

The Italianate building at 8 Spring Street houses the Elizabeth Taber Library on the first floor and the Natural History Museum on the second. Built in 1872, this building was the first of numerous gifts of buildings to the Town of Marion by Elizabeth Taber. She stated that her gift represented “a testimonial of my esteem and kind regards for the Library Association and Natural History Society and for the inhabitants of Marion, generally.” She had the building insured for $4,000. By the late 1870s, the Taber Library and Natural History Museum had become a key component of the Tabor Academy campus.