Rochester Council on Aging

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The full monthly newsletter and calendar are available on our website www.rochestermaseniorcenter.com. Events and photographs are also posted on our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/Rochestercoa.  

            On Monday, October 21at 12:00 pm Hanna Milhench and her team will prepare a delicious lunch.  

            On Monday, October 28at 12:00 pm Mike and Ann Cambra and their team will prepare a special lunch. This special luncheon is open to everyone.  However, advance sign-up is needed to ensure that the appropriate amount of food is purchased and prepared. Please sign-up in advance by contacting the Senior Center. A donation of $5 per person is greatly appreciated. If you need a ride to the luncheons, the Senior Center van is available to pick you up. Contact the Rochester Senior Center by calling 508-763-8723.

            The Rochester Senior Center has a daytrip scheduled on Tuesday, October 29. This trip is to Hart’s Turkey Farm Restaurant in Meredith, NH. Hart’s is locally owned and operated by the Hart family since 1954. The leaf peeping trip up to Hart’s is about three hours. The bus leaves the Senior Center at 9:00 am and will return at approximately 4:30 pm.  

            The flu clinic held on Wednesday, October 9 was a great success, even though the weather was fowl with wind and rain.  Thank you to all of those who volunteered their time for this event at the Senior Center.

Patriots’ Team Physician to Speak

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The public is invited to hear Dr. Bert Zarins speak about the New England Patriots on Sunday, November 3at 2:00 pm as part of the Purrington Lecture Series sponsored by the Mattapoisett Library Trust.

            Mattapoisett resident Dr. Bert Zarins was Head Team Physician for the New England Patriots for 25 years. He will provide behind the scenes details of events, and give us an inside look at the Patriots through the ups and downs of the team. Dr. Zarins will start with the history of the Patriots, recount the improbable run to the Super Bowl in 1986, describe the inner workings of a professional football team throughout the year, and show humorous incidents at Super Bowls and other games (and bring out all six Super Bowl rings).

            Dr. Zarins is the Augustus Thorndike Clinical Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School and the Emeritus Chief of Sports Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital. In addition to working with the Patriots, Dr. Zarins was the Head Physician for the Boston Bruins hockey team for 32 years and the New England Revolution soccer team for 14 years. Dr. Zarins was also Head Physician for the United States Olympic Team at the Winter Olympic games in Sarajevo in 1986.

            Seating is limited for this free event. Please call the library at 508-758-4171 to make a reservation. The library is located at 7 Barstow Street in Mattapoisett and is accessible. Parking is also available near Shipyard Park, one block from the library.

Michael H. “Pugs” Chandanais

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Michael H. “Pugs” Chandanais, 55, of New Bedford died on Saturday, October 19, 2019. He was surrounded by his family when he passed away from a stroke due to surgical complications.

            Pugs leaves behind his wife, Hisako, his stepdaughters Christina and Jennifer, and his three grandchildren Kenya, Kaylia, and Samuel. He is also survived by his father Raymond, stepmother Helen, and siblings Cindy and her husband Steve, Randy, Susan, Michelle and her husband Max, Christine and her husband Aaron, and Jay, as well as many nieces and nephews.

            He was predeceased by his mother Marilyn.

            Pugs attended Old Rochester Regional High School. After graduation he entered the United States Marine Corps where he proudly served his country. When he returned, he attended Bristol Community College and UMass Dartmouth.

            Pugs worked as an electrical engineer at Titleist for over 20 years. He also was the owner of the Capeway Lounge in Fairhaven from 2004 to 2009.

            He enjoyed spending time with his wife, family, and friends. He loved his Patriots.

            His visitation will be held on Wednesday, October 23, 2019 from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm at the Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home for Funerals, 50 County Rd., Route 6, Mattapoisett, with military honors at 12:30 pm. A reception will follow from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm at the Century House, 107 South Main St., Acushnet. In lieu of flowers, the family would like donations to be made to the Fairhaven High School Gridiron Club or the New Bedford High School Gridiron Club. For directions and guestbook, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.

Resident Refutes USGS Perennial Stream Designation

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            During the October 15 meeting of the Rochester Conservation Commission, Todd Cambra presented evidence that a perennial stream does not exist on his property.

            Cambra, 1098 Walnut Plain Road, via a Request for Determination of Applicability, refuted a perennial stream designation as shown on United States Geological Survey (USGS) topographic mapping.

            Cambra submitted photographic evidence and field notes from what he described as “a competent source”, claiming that the stream in question was dry during four consecutive days. The issue involves the proposed construction of a 75-foot by 60-foot garage situated within 100 feet from a bordering vegetated resource area.

            The competent source turned out to be Conservation Commission member Chris Gerrior, whose documentation was swiftly accepted by the commission as they voted their approval via a Negative Determination of Applicability.

            In tandem with this ruling, the commission also issued a Certificate of Compliance for work never begun on the property.

            A Request for Determination of Applicability filed by Laura and Bruce Ouellette, 245 Hartley Road, asked the commission to consider granting a Negative determination for the installation of two concrete pads for a generator and propane tank to service their residence. The closest work was described as being 29 feet from a drainage ditch adjacent to a cranberry bog. A Negative determination was unanimously approved.

            Pedro Rodriquez of Solar Systems MA Project Management LLC for property at 0 Walnut Plain Road and 0 Old Middleboro Road with a Notice of Intent filing was next. The owner of record is Decas Cranberry Company, Carver, Diana Murphy, trustee, and MWH LLC, Braintree.

            There was some concern voiced by Chairman Mike Conway that the signature pages for the property owners did not clearly delineate what properties they owned which, in his estimation, caused the application to be incomplete. He refused to open the hearing.

            Rodriquez, along with Austin Turner of Bohler Engineering, took umbrage to that conclusion, challenging his decision to send them away.

            After about 20 minutes, during which Conservation Agent Farinon and several commissioners pointed out that documents were, in their opinion, complete and that the hearing should be opened, Conway indicated that the commissioners could overrule his decision. They did just that and overrode his dissention with a unanimous vote. The hearing was opened.

            Discussion of the widening of Old Middleboro Road to be utilized for the construction of a 35-acre solar array, and the need to ensure that all abutters be informed of plans to widen the road, led to the hearing’s continuation until November 19.

            In other business, five Abbreviated Notices of Resource Area Delineations by Joe Harrison of SunRaise Investments LLC for properties located at 0 Snipatuit Road, 0 Cushman Road, 0 Braley Road, and two filings for 0 Featherbed Lane were continued at the request of the petitioner until November 5.

            Also continued until November 5, at the request of REpurpose Properties, LLC, was the public hearing for an NOI for an over-55 residential complex, located adjacent to Plumb Corner.

            The next meeting of the Rochester Conservation Commission is scheduled for November 5 at 7:00 pm in the Rochester Town Hall conference room.

Rochester Conservation Commission

By Marilou Newell

Announcing Auditions at the MAC

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The Marion Art Center has announced open auditions for all roles in the upcoming production of “Emmalina Scrooge”, written by Steph DeFerie and directed by Jennifer Palmer.  Auditions will be held on Saturday, October 26, from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm and on Tuesday, October 29, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at the Marion Art Center at 80 Pleasant Street in Marion.  Performances are scheduled on December 6, 7, 13, 14 and 15.  

            Why is young Emmy Scrooge such a… well… scrooge? Perhaps a visit from Charles Dickens and two ghostly sisters can persuade her to have a change of heart. But when even the spirit of her thrice-great-grandfather gives up on her, things don’t look promising… Sure to become your new holiday favorite!

            Director Jennifer Palmer will be casting four males, two females, 12 girls, and eight boys. Auditions will consist of a cold reading from the script, callbacks TBD. Rehearsal schedule to be determined once the show is cast. For more information, please call the Marion Art Center at 508-748-1266 or contact Jennifer Palmer at jengpalmer@msn.com. 

Elks Student of the Month

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The Elks of Wareham/New Bedford Lodge No. 1548 sponsors the Elks Student of the Month and Student of the Year Awards for students enrolled in local area high schools.  The criteria used in nominating a student includes a student who excels in scholarship, citizenship, performing arts, fine arts, hobbies, athletics, church, school and community service, industry and farming.

            Congratulations to senior Brendan Stack of Rochester for being selected as Student of the Month by the Old Rochester Regional High School Faculty and Staff. Brendan is a well-rounded student. He is a leader in the classroom, on the athletic field, and is also kind to his peers. Brendan participates with enthusiasm and takes his work very seriously; he works hard to focus and get his work done. He is a leader on the football team; younger members of the team consider him someone who they can look up to and approach. He takes time to talk to other students and learn about them. He is a strong ORR role model.

Nicholas G. Makrys

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Nicholas G. Makrys, 96, of Marion passed away peacefully on Friday October 18, 2019 at Rhode Island Hospital surrounded by his family. He was the beloved husband of the late Anastasia (Karalekas) Makrys.

            Born September 25, 1923 in Malden MA, he was the son of the late George and Angeline Makrys. He was raised in Onset, graduated from Wareham High School, and lived in Marion since 1974.

            He was a member of St. George Greek Orthodox Church.

            Mr. Makrys and his late brothers, James & Peter, owned and operated Dainty Maid Ice Cream and Restaurant in Wareham for many years. They were most known for their brightly colored fleet of ice cream trucks, homemade ice cream and novelties, which were seen from Wareham and throughout Cape Cod.

            During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army Air Force and held the position of crew chief on a B-24 Liberator. He was a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks in Wareham. Nick believed in constant learning and enjoyed challenging himself with new skills. To that end, he was successful in obtaining both his Real Estate and Certified Financial Planning licenses. Nick was an avid sports fan, and he especially enjoyed following the Boston Red Sox and the New England Patriots. In his spare time, he enjoyed playing the drums, woodworking, and photography. He was a skilled poker player and enjoyed his trips to Foxwoods Resort and Casino. Most of all he loved his family and instilled in his children strong values that have served them well. He will be dearly missed and forever in our hearts.

            Nick is survived by his children, George and Pamela Makrys; and several nieces and nephews.

            He was predeceased by his brothers, James G. Makrys and Peter G. Makrys.

            His Funeral Service will be held on Thursday October 24, 2019 at 11 am at St. George Greek Orthodox Church, 186 Cross Rd., Dartmouth. Burial will follow in Pine Grove Cemetery, New Bedford. Visiting hours will be on Wednesday October 23, 2019 from 4-7 pm at the Saunders-Dwyer Home for Funerals, 495 Park St., New Bedford. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to St. George Greek Orthodox Church, P.O. Box 79411, Dartmouth, MA 02747. For directions and guestbook, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.

The Next Generation History Symposium

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The Mattapoisett Museum presents: “The Next Generation History Symposium.” On Sunday, November 3, from 2:00 to 3:30, five University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth students will present on various history topics offering the next generation’s view and enthusiasm on history.

            The panel and their topics include:

Jacob Hunsinger: “Switchback and the Nine-Fingered Kids: Pennsylvania Coal Mines and Labor”

Jared Fredette: “Sticking it to Bomber Command: Britain’s Irregular Warfare Unit” 

Sarah Murphy: “Calvin, Predestination, and Why it Worked”

Zack Wedge: “The Refinery of the Vikings”

Abigail Field: “No, Not Everyone was a Flapper: What We Actually Wore in the 1920s”

            This event is free and open to the public. The Mattapoisett Museum is located at 5 Church Street in Mattapoisett. For more information please see our website at: www.mattapoisettmuseum.org/events or contact us at 508-758-2844; director@mattapoisettmuseum.org.

ConCom Addresses Flood Zone Construction Concerns

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            Marion Conservation Commission Chairman Jeff Doubrava explained the public hearing process on October 9 to several residents gathered with concerns over the potential impacts of a home construction and boulder embankment plan proposed at 68 West Avenue.

            Laura and Frank Utano’s Notice of Intent calls for the demolition a single-family house to construct a new single-family with garage and a walkout basement in the back. A sloped boulder embankment is also proposed as an extension of the existing retaining wall, which calls for some minor filling and grading.

            The new home will need to comply with FEMA regulations for structures built within a flood zone and velocity zone. The house is limited to the same footprint as the original house, except for a massive deck system designed for the west side of the house.

            An existing one-bedroom cottage on the property will remain.

            Conservation Commission member Shaun Walsh steered the focus toward the thick overgrowth of vegetation slated for removal from the existing retaining wall. Although Davignon stated that only 10 feet of overgrowth would be removed, nothing was noted on the plan of record.

            “That would be helpful for future commissions going forward,” said Walsh.

            Walsh then turned his attention to the proposed wall extension at the seaside edge of the lawn.

            “Any time you construct a hard structure like that, it’s going to act like a vertical buffer to storm waves, so it’s going to displace that flooding,” said Walsh. “It’s either going to undermine that structure or it’s going to displace it to adjacent properties, so I’m a little concerned.”

            Davignon said the surface of the boulders would be positioned at an angle between the flat surface of the bottom and flat surface of the lawn at top with a gradual slope. Waves that come up would flow with the topography, he said.

            “It’s really a boulder embankment,” said Davignon. “I wouldn’t call it a wall. It’ll be sloped at a 45-degree angle, and we are taking out some of the fill on the downhill side. So, we thought it was a fair cut and fill balance.”

            Walsh asked Davignon to revise the plan to indicate the 45-degree gradual slope.

            The Island Associates of Marion has its own concerns about the project, especially with the removal of shrubs between the house and the water. The associates’ request was for a clear delineation of the 10-foot limit of the area to be cut, so that the workers cutting the vegetation don’t accidentally cut too far in to the beach border and an adjacent path that leads to the beach. This vegetation acts as a buffer during storms, mitigating the storm flow before it reaches any houses.

            Davignon said a siltation fence would mark the boundary of the work area, but Doubrava wanted the line to be staked as well. He shared the concern that contractors could overstep.

            “And then they say, ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t know we weren’t supposed to go all the way,’” said Doubrava.

            “Absolutely,” said Davignon, agreeing to the stakes.

            Walsh had another concern about the direction of the slope of the proposed driveway toward West Avenue and how stormwater runoff would flow in the wrong direction. Davignon said he would redirect the stormwater flow to run parallel to the south side of the house and cascade over the retaining wall into the water with assistance from a shallow trench five to six feet from the driveway and pipe it toward the wall.

            The hearing was continued until October 23 to allow Davignon to make the requested updates to the plan.

            Also during the meeting, the commission issued an Order of Conditions to Elizabeth and William Weber, Jr. of 21 East Avenue for a Notice of Intent to remove and reconstruct 155 feet of a stone riprap boulder seawall.

            Engineer David Davignon said that because the hearing was last continued on September 25, he has made the required updates to the plan to specify that the wall will be built in increments to avoid the release of silt and sediment into the resource area.

            The commission issued a Negative 2 determination (no NOI filing required because work will not alter the resource area) for the Request for Determination of Applicability filed by 96 Moorings Road Nominee Trust for a 1,500-gallon septic tank, 1,000-gallon pump chamber, and associated pipes to connect to a garage/guesthouse into the existing leaching field. This proposal is in lieu of the installations of previously approved connections to the main house. A secondary garage was also removed from the plan.

            In other business, the commission issued a partial Certificate of Compliance to Debora Mihaley-Sobelman, 100 Bullivant Farm Road, for an Order of Conditions dating back to 1984 for a subdivision road construction.

            The public hearing for the Notice of Intent filed by Kathleen Welch, 82 West Avenue, was continued until October 23.

            The next meeting of the Marion Conservation Commission is scheduled for October 23 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Town House.

Marion Conservation Commission

By Jean Perry

The Pied-Billed Grebe

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            The pied-billed grebe is a small brown waterfowl about the size of a chicken that is common to most North American wetlands. Yet it is so reclusive, rarely seen even by avid birdwatchers. The grebe is habitually evasive. When observed, it rarely flies, usually ducking under the water in a shallow dive with only the head visible to keep an eye on the intruder.

            The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife now lists the species as endangered. However, it has a habit of returning to restored man-made ponds, such as the one off Egypt Lane in Fairhaven. Several grebes were sighted there recently by Carolyn Longworth, director of the Fairhaven Millicent Library. The pied-billed is her favorite bird, which she wrote about once in her birdwatcher club’s publication several years ago.

            The pied-billed grebe may choose to nest twice in a season, laying between three or more eggs that hatch in about three weeks. Sadly, predation by mink and otters seems to take an annual toll. The chicks are ‘precocial’ (hatching with more advanced capability) and can swim and dive only hours after emerging from their shells. As they tire easily, they readily climb onto their mother’s back, constantly begging for food such as aquatic vegetation, seeds, frogs, tadpoles, insects, and crayfish.

            When the mother senses danger, she can dive with her chicks on her back and hold them under her wings if necessary. Usually both mother and chicks soon surface to cruise along with heads held proudly high for observation. The downy crest of the crown of the chick is streaked with crimson, as illustrated.

            Now as the deciduous autumn leaves are seasonally streaked with color and the grebe’s marsh habitat has a morning layer of whiteness, its migration south must begin before it freezes over, and it may be forced to drop into salt marshes if there is no unfrozen fresh water available. True to its secluded nature, the grebe will not leave until the sun goes down to migrate exclusively at night. On its way south, its dark summer plumage begins to fade to camouflage with the changing habitat, and the band of black on the bill disappears entirely. Come April, the grebes will return to our region, some from as far away as Panama.

            Grebes to this very day may still be frequently found in Henry David Thoreau’s Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts, where he retreated to a waterside cabin to avoid the trials and tribulations of cultural society. As a transcendentalist like his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson, Thoreau believed that the true religious spirit of God could be experienced by meditation in the solitude of nature. When Thoreau heard the mystical “coo, coo, coo” call of the grebe, it may have struck a kindred note of man’s isolation. Perhaps it spoke to his inner recluse from across the still waters of his peace of mind.

By George B. Emmons