An engineer working with the Mattapoisett Water & Sewer Department presented the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission on September 24 with the Town’s plan to construct a new water main between Avenues A and B, and Beach and Bay Roads in the Point Connett and Pease’s Point beach neighborhoods.

Kevin Flood, senior project manager with Foss & O’Neill, Inc., a civil engineering firm, armed with detailed engineered drawings, spoke to the construction methodology that would be deployed, a method that would ensure a low impact on the surrounding coastal zone.

“We’ll use a directional drilling method,” Flood said, that would allow for a targeted, deep boring into the ground while leaving the surface level intact. While there would be some topside disruption, it would not require remediation. Flood said that beach grasses would be replaced at the direct drilling points.

Water & Sewer Superintendent Henri Renauld said the current water main has at times become exposed due to storm activity, leaving it at risk for damage or rupture. He concurred with Flood that the new pipe installed in this manner would less likely become exposed in the future.

According to Flood, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection is requiring that the Town apply for a Chapter 91 license. Chapter 91 regulations are the oldest program of this type in the nation, impacting activities on both coastal and inland waterways including construction, and was formally adopted by the Commonwealth in 1866.

Conversation Commission Chairman Mike King said that although the Chapter 91 application was pending, the commission could proceed with acceptance of the plan as described. The commission approved the Notice Of Intent Application.

Mattapoisett secured a grant from the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management in the amount of $498,000 to help cover infrastructure costs associated with this major undertaking.

Also during the meeting, Jon Connell of SITEC, representing David Vermette of 116 North Street, presented the commission with a Request for Determination of Applicability for lot grading over a septic system and landscaping. Connell acknowledged that the application was a bit “after-the-fact,” given that the grading and landscaping had already taken place. But he said that when Conservation Agent Elizabeth Leidlhold first studied the proposed construction of a single-family home on the lot, there appeared to be no jurisdictional areas; therefore, the Wetlands Protection Act would not be applicable.

Connell further explained that, after further investigation, it was determined that a small area of wetlands was located across North Street and so the developer was asked to file the RDA.

Abutters James McCarthy and Stefan Gabriel, residents of Alder Berry Lane, came forward to express their concern that the home would cause stormwater runoff onto their already drenched properties. King said it was highly unlikely that water from the applicant’s lot would drain across North Street to the wetlands in question and that water flow towards Alder Berry Lane was the natural direction.

Connell said that it was the natural lay of the land that would cause water to flow towards the abutters’ properties, and not that the already constructed home would cause more water to flow in their direction.

McCarthy suggested that wasn’t the case, given the footprint of the structure and disturbance of the land. King said that, had the project come before the commission prior to construction, it may have required roof runoff to travel through an underground recharge system, but that was not feasible now.

“We are only here to look at the septic and grading,” King said.

Commissioner Trevor Francis questioned whether the commission had jurisdiction over sheet flow, water movement from either groundwater or stormwater. King confirmed they did not.

The project received a negative determination of applicability.

In other business, William Cantor, 33 Main Street, received a negative determination of applicability for tree trunk removal; James Neely, 7 Rock Street, also received a negative determination for the construction of a tool shed.

Certificates of Compliance were issued to Caroline’s Way Trust, 1 Goodspeed Island, and William Hewitt, 8 Brierpatch Lane.

The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Conversation Commission will be held at Center School in the conference room on October 22 at 6:30 pm.

Mattapoisett Conservation Commission

By Marilou Newell

It’s known as “the gateway to Marion” and once upon a time there might have been a CVS on the Captain Hadley house property at the corner of Route 6 and Front Street if Marion residents hadn’t fought as hard as they did to stop it. Today the historical yellow Greek revival house still sits where it has for centuries and, through another community effort, instead of a CVS sign there now stands a black shiny one with bold golden letters that reads: “Welcome to Marion, Massachusetts.”

On September 20, Elizabeth Hatch, on behalf of the Marion Garden Group and the Town of Marion, unveiled the welcome sign to dozens of residents gathered around the sign’s newly created garden bed tastefully landscaped with a variety of shrubs and ornamental grasses. As part of a beautification effort first proposed to the Board of Selectmen back on June 19, the sign was ordered and installed by the garden group and funded by the Town with the support of the selectmen and the Finance Committee chairman.

“Based on the positive response and great interest from the townspeople, there seems to be strong support for the beautification effort for Marion,” said Hatch, the vice president of the garden group. “To date, the governing bodies of the Town have also shown their strong support.”

The garden group also broke ground in three other areas in town with fresh landscaping of the road islands on Spring Street and Converse Road and the half circle turnaround coming into Marion from Mattapoisett at the welcome sign on Route 6. A fundraising effort, said Hatch, will fund further projects next spring, such as flower plantings for road islands located between the Route 195 junction and Route 6, and landscaped areas at the Route 6 entrance from Wareham.

“It will continue to be a work in progress as long as we have support,” said Hatch. “This beautiful sign is an example of things to come that will enhance and be reflective of our incredible slice of heaven called Marion.”

Hatch encourages Marion residents and building owners to take an active role in beautifying Marion however they can with little cleanups here and there and especially by eliminating weeds on the curbs and roads in front of their houses.

“It can make a world of difference,” said Hatch. “This in itself could be transforming. Let’s all make an effort!”

By Jean Perry

Six decades ago a group of students from Mattapoisett were taking the journey of a lifetime. No longer would they be in that insular world created by the teachers and the school they loved so well. They were graduating from Center School. Now they would be thrust into life as high school students transported far away to Fairhaven.

On June 18, 1958, the graduating class of Center School gathered to pass through an invisible archway into their future. They were hopeful, trusting, excited, and a little bit scared. They would be leaving behind their beloved teachers who had supplied not only education but were also role models and leaders the students had come to depend on and to love.

Until 1962 when Old Rochester Regional School District was created, students matriculating out of ninth grade into high school were bussed to Fairhaven High School. Thanks to the philanthropy of Henry Huttleston Rogers, Mattapoisett’s students for decades had been granted admittance to Fairhaven High School, the school Rogers had funded. Thus, the class of 1958 prepared to gird their minds as they too made that giant leap towards adulthood.

Theirs had been like classes before them – a tightknit group bound together from first grade through ninth grade in a red brick school that was the cornerstone of their universe. Now everything would change.

In 1958, milk cost 80 cents per gallon; eggs 28 cents a dozen, and a stamp would set you back 4 cents. The United States was going through a post-war recession with rather high unemployment, but if you were working, your average annual salary was $4,600; your home cost about $12,000; and, you paid 25 cents a gallon to run your American-made automobile.

In living rooms around the nation people were watching Ed Sullivan and Jack Benny, and on Saturday afternoon teens tuned into American Bandstand. On the radio teenagers were rebelling against the still popular Frank Sinatra by tuning stations spinning hits by Elvis and Ricky Nelson. Kids still played outside until the streetlights came on, maybe playing with a Hula Hoop that debuted that year.

Yet, while everything seemed calm on the surface, major changes – not only in little Mattapoisett but also around the globe – were coming. Toyota began importing cars into the U.S. as the Packard ended production. The microchip was invented as was the first computer modems and remote controllers. Soon the kids in the house would no longer be the ones who had to get up and walk over to the T.V. to change the channel – Dad would have command of the remote. President Eisenhower announced the development of N.A.S.A. and in the same year the U.S. launched its first satellite. Undersea military surveillance was underway as deep beneath the polar ice cap the nuclear submarine Nautilus reached the North Pole.

For now, however, the class of 1958 was poised to join that larger population of students all moving forward into their tomorrows. Where would they go in life, what journeys would they have, what adventures would await them?

Sixty years later all those questions would be answered as the 60^thclass reunion of Center School was held on September 15 at the home of Ruth Ann Heuberger Walega and her classmate-turned-sweetheart-turned-husband Wayne Walega.

Carole Sherman Clifford along with the Walegas and several other former classmates planned the reunion. Clifford said that her quest to find all the students had led to some dead ends and, of course, to the reality that some classmates had passed away.

Using the Internet to search for people, Clifford said that female alumni had been the hardest to find because they had taken their husbands’ names. But of those she could find, Clifford called or sent out emails and used Facebook and other social media platforms, reaching back through the veil of time to bring home long-lost friends.

Now they gathered at Walega’s home to remember, to laugh, to share highs, and comfort one another over lows. Yet the overarching sentiment expressed by the dozen or so former students was just how much Center School and its educators had meant to them throughout their lives.

“People have such great memories,” Clifford said. Memories fond, funny, and unforgettable were shared by all.

Wayne Walega shared a memory that nearly ended his romance with Ruth Ann. “My parents got a call from the principal. Apparently they didn’t like that I had a squirt gun in school. My parents thought I needed more discipline, so they sent me to Tabor Academy.”

As time would attest, that didn’t end his relationship with Ruth Ann who went on to Fairhaven High School. They have been married for 54 years. Love’s labors weren’t lost.

Linda Montgomery Tunstall remembered clearly when she learned there really wasn’t a Santa Claus. “We were in fourth grade; it was Christmas time. I raised my hand and said, ‘It’s two weeks before Christmas and we haven’t sent our letters to Santa!’ I looked back at all the other kids who were just staring at me and realized immediately that there wasn’t a Santa.”

Kathie Schragel Wilson said, “The whole nine years were wonderful.” Gesturing to an elderly gentleman seated nearby, she said, “Mr. Kobak remembers us after sixty years!”

Joseph Kobak, one of the alumni’s most beloved teachers, attended the reunion. Surrounded by his former students, he looked through stacks of black and white photographs clearly relishing the moment and the memories.

Of Kobak, one alumni wrote, “He was more than a teacher and a coach: he was a friend.”

Bill Blasdale shared, “If you were naughty your name went in the book. Three bad marks and you were punished.” He said he had gotten a bad mark for singing in class. He sang “Dungaree Doll” to Clifford, a 1956 hit sung by Eddie Fisher.

Bill Young joked that he came to the reunion to see his girlfriend, adding, “We were a bonded group – like family.”

As the alumni chatted there were thoughts about another reunion in the future. But for now, they were just enjoying the moment and the memories.

If you are a former classmate of the graduating class of 1958 and want to share your story or learn more about other alumni you may contact Carole Clifford at moosie999@comcast.net.

By Marilou Newell