The Open Table crew looks forward to seeing you and serving you a delicious meal this Friday, April 13at the Mattapoisett Congregational Church. The birds are singing and the flowers are blooming; hopefully, spring is just around the corner?! Doors open at 4:30 pm and supper is served at 5:00 pm. Invite a friend or neighbor or someone who lives down the street you don’t even know. There’s nothing like a good meal and fellowship to make the day brighter.
Winifred T. (Francis) Carter, 93, of New Bedford passed away at the New Bedford Jewish Convalescent Home on April 9, 2018.
Winnie was the wife of the late William J. Carter, Jr., to whom she was married for 68 years.
Born and raised in New Bedford, the daughter of the late William and Mary A. ((Murphy) Francis, she resided in Mattapoisett and Fairhaven for the past 30 years.
Winnie attended Holy Family High School and married shortly after graduation. She became a young and devoted mother of seven children.
She was a communicant of St. Anthony’s Church in Mattapoisett.
Winnie was a former member of the Catholic Women’s Club, the Country Club of New Bedford and Little Harbor Golf Club.
Winnie and her husband traveled to Bermuda frequently with friends and family. In their later years, they were able to cruise around the world with their dear friend, David Barber.
Her kindness towards others and love of family was evident in the way she lived her life. Many friends admired her for her helpful and giving spirit. She will always be remembered by everyone who knew her.
Survivors include three sons, William J. Carter, III and Paul Carter, both of New Bedford, Stephen Carter and his wife Kathy of South Dartmouth; three daughters, Karen Halloran of New Bedford, Janice Hollis and her husband Dudley of Bermuda and Christine Mello and her husband Wayne of Fairhaven; twelve grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.
She was the mother of the late Kelly A. Carter and the sister of the late Mary Flanagan, William Francis and Richard Francis.
Her Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Friday at 11 AM in St. Anthony’s Church. Her family will receive guests at church from 10:15-11 AM prior to her Mass. Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to the Community Nurse and Hospice Care, P.O. Box 751, Fairhaven, MA 02719 or the New Bedford Jewish Convalescent Home, 200 Hawthorn St., New Bedford, MA 02740. Arrangements are with the Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home For Funerals, 50 County Rd. (Rt. 6), Mattapoisett. For online guestbook, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.
It should come as no surprise that Mattapoisett’s treasured and historic wharves suffered during the 2017-2018 storm season. Mattapoisett Harbormaster Jill Simmons shared highlights of the damage inflicted by storms during her presentation to the Mattapoisett Finance Committee on March 28.
Going back, Simmons says an early seasonal storm moved the ramp at Barstow wharf adjacent to the town beach, pushing it onto the fireboat tied up at the floating dock. Thankfully, there was no serious damage to the boat, said Simmons.
Then another storm on October 29, later reclassified as a hurricane, “…caused very significant damage to private boats and town property.” She reported that three floating dock ramps were damaged, with one being completely destroyed. Also, many dinghy docks need repairing or rebuilding along with the floating dock at Barstow that was ripped apart. Simmons said that same storm caused three groundings.
As Simmons moved the discussion to “present needs,” she said the dinghy dock system is “…woefully inadequate for the number of boats in the harbor.” She said, with approximately 1,000 moorings placed in the inner harbor, there was only space for 70 dinghies. A plan to add dingy space to the Barstow wharf area is currently under review, she said, but with evidence of new eelgrass beds, more study was necessary.
Adding to the difficulties boaters face, Simmons said launch services were insufficient due to long wait times and that launch service shuts down when Mattapoisett Boat Yard closes for the season, yet the season extended well into September.
Of work needed on the wharves themselves, Simmons said repair and replacement of pilings on the timber pier and Long Wharf was imperative.
The harbormaster boat sustained major damage during one of the storms, Simmons said, with repairs estimated at $2,000. She then repeated a position she has held for some time: the harbormaster boat is not the right type of craft for the job.
Calling it a “recreational” boat, she said it wasn’t suitable for public safety activities, noting that it takes three onboard personnel to pull in one petite-sized person in the event of a water rescue or recovery. She said she was currently researching decommissioned military and government watercraft.
Simmons also said the department would greatly benefit from a shallow draft craft that would allow greater flexibility for work inshore due to ease of maneuvering around the mooring field and coves.
Of the budget itself, Simmons presented a worksheet showing an increase of $28,722 over fiscal year 2018 – from $230,000 to $258,722.
Also coming before the Finance Committee was John DeCosta, chairman of the Community Preservation Act committee.
The committee has received three grant requests. The first is from the Town of Mattapoisett for repairs to the building located at the former Holy Ghost grounds on Park Street in the sum of $174,000.
Next, Freemin Bauer submitted a request for $75,000 for a new dog park to be located on land adjacent to the police station for $75,000.
Lastly, the VFW Florence Eastman Post requested $10,000 to study the current structural integrity of the historic Legion Hall.
Funding of the CPA program currently stands at $193,615, DeCosta said, including anticipated level funding from the state for $28,257. The grants will be voted on during the Annual Town Meeting should they be advanced to the warrant, DeCosta said.
Also during the meeting, Town Clerk Catherine Heuberger discussed the need to finance poll workers versus a combination of senior tax work-off staffing and paid staffing. The budget impact would be an increase to the department’s FY19 of $3,000. Heuberger also requested a 2% pay increase for her position, from $59,000 to $60,180.
On a humorous note, Heuberger presented a punctured and severely damaged dog tag saying that a resident had brought it in to show her the poor quality of the tags. The committee members chuckled when Heuberger said that a “puppy” had done the damage, causing Town Administrator Michael Gagne to say, “I wouldn’t want to see that puppy!”
Heuberger’s FY18 budget was $150,666 with a proposed $3,717 increase for FY19, bringing the department budget to $154,383.
The Mattapoisett Finance Committee’s next meeting was held on April 4 at 6:30 pm in the town hall conference room.
(Disclosure: Marilou Newell is a member of the Community Preservation Act committee representing the Mattapoisett Historical Commission.)
Mattapoisett Finance Committee
By Marilou Newell
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 14 Main Street.
Built in 1760, the Cape Cod cottage at 14 Main Street was built for the Bates family. Behind this house is a small one-room schoolhouse where Elizabeth Pitcher Taber taught before her marriage in 1823. At one time, Miss Roberta Bates and her sister, Nancy Bates Crowell, kept a calico and notions shop in part of this house. At the turn of the century, noted artist and magazine illustrator Charles Dana Gibson lived here. He was the creator of the famous Gibson Girl, which helped to define female fashion in the 1890s. Charles Dana Gibson was a member of the wedding party of the famous war correspondent Richard Harding Davis and Cecil Clark at St. Gabriel’s Church in May 1899. Ethel Barrymore was also in the wedding party as the maid of honor.
Marion is having a Scout-led Spring Town Clean Up on Saturday, April 28. Streets will be cleaned and closets cleared as the Marion Cub Scouts Pack 32 and Marion Boy Scouts Troop 32 join forces with GiftstoGive, the Marion Recreation Department, Tabor Academy, and Marion Department of Public Works for a spring cleaning! Please join us when we rally at Washburn Park on Saturday, April 28 from 8:30 – 11:00 am. (Rain date is April 29 at the same time.) Participants will be given trash bags, recycling bags, gloves and be provided with a yellow vest. Assignments will be handed out and participants will clear the trash and other debris left from winter and the four’easters’ wake.
In addition to cleaning up our streets, cleaning out our closets will also be on the agenda as the GiftstoGive truck will be at Washburn Park from 8:30 – 11:00 am, collecting new and gently used children’s items. Please see their website for details about items they accept: www.giftstogive.org.
Litter collected will be returned to Washburn Park to create a trash mountain, a visual testament to not only the stunning amount of litter left on town roadways but also to the amazing efforts of caring community members.
The Nemasket Group 5K Walk/Run will be held on Saturday, May 5. The race begins and ends at Fort Phoenix, Fairhaven, MA. Dust off your sneakers and join us for a morning of fun as we wind through Fairhaven for a great cause. Coming together as a community and making new friends while raising awareness for individuals with disabilities is a sure win for all. The first 125 registrants will receive a T-shirt. Registration begins at 8:00 am and the race starts at 9:00 am. For more information and to register for this event, please go to www.NemasketGroup.org or call 508-999-4436. We look forward to seeing you at the event.
At approximately 8:05 pm, Friday April 6, 2018, the Mattapoisett Police Department received a telephone call reporting a motor vehicle crash on Aucoot Road approximately a quarter mile prior to the entrance to Harbor Beach.
Officers who responded to the crash site found a vehicle that had traveled south on Aucoot Road, a two-lane roadway and had crashed into a telephone pole and continued on into the wooded area. Police EMS personnel on scene determined that the operator, the only person in the vehicle was deceased. The operator of the vehicle was identified as James Bardsley age 45 of 14 Harbor Road Mattapoisett.
The Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis & Reconstruction Section was notified, per protocol, of the fatal crash and responded to the crash site to assist the Mattapoisett Police Department in the crash investigation.
Power in the Aucoot/Hollywood’s Road area was out for several hours due to the downed pole as a result of the crash.
The Mattapoisett Fire Department also responded to assist with the crash.
Mattapoisett Police Department Press Release
Adam C. Evich, 47, of Fairhaven died April 7, 2018 at St. Luke’s Hospital.
He was the husband of Dagne (Sovik) Evich.
Born in Spokane, WA, the son of Peter and Marcia K. (Fuller) Evich, he lived in Edmunds, WA before moving to Fairhaven in 2003.
Adam was employed as a commercial fisherman on several vessels of the New Bedford fleet. He had fished many years in Alaska since he was 17 and he was on “Deadliest Catch” for seasons 1 and 2. He also was a mate aboard a tug for Western Towing in Seattle as well as serving abroad for Military Sealift Command.
He enjoyed spending time with his family, watching his sons sporting events, playing golf, hunting and riding his motorcycle. In his youth, he enjoyed playing hockey and played junior hockey in Canada.
Survivors include his wife; 2 sons, Mason Evich and Turner Evich, both of Fairhaven; a brother, Aaron Evich of Edmunds, WA; a sister, Amy Evich of California; and several nieces and nephews.
His Memorial Service will be held on Wednesday at 6 pm in the Trinity Lutheran Church, 16 Temple Place, Fairhaven. Arrangements are with the Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home For Funerals, 50 County Rd. (Rt. 6), Mattapoisett. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to Commemorative Giving, Seattle Children’s Hospital and Research Foundation, PO Box 5371, Seattle, WA 98145-5005. For online guestbook, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.
The Marion Conservation Commission on March 28 issued an Enforcement Order to the owners of 78 Wareham Road for what the commission perceived as an obvious violation of the Wetlands Protection Act and the Clean Rivers Act after visiting the site.
According to Vice Chairman Jeffrey Doubrava, extensive clear-cutting has taken place after visiting the site located next to the Weweantic River.
“A good part of the lot has been clear cut,” Doubrava said. “I’m not sure if that part of it is in [wetlands] buffer, but it’s certainly in the riverfront area. That’s … the mouth of the river…”
Doubrava pointed out that a deed restriction notes that the wooded area that was clear-cut was the habitat of at least one endangered species and not allowed to be touched, which is under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program.
“[The work is] not a subtle thing,” Doubrava said. “We didn’t go and pick trees out here and there; it’s essentially clear cut…”
“It’s pretty huge, I think,” said commission member Joel Hartley.
The property owner purchased the land, Doubrava said, and hired an engineer and also filed with the Planning Board for an Approval Not Required to subdivide the land into four lots.
Doubrava said he wasn’t sure if clearing took place within the wetlands line, but he was confident the riverfront zone was disturbed.
The commission said the Enforcement Order will require the property owner to file a Notice of Intent after the fact, and Natural Heritage would be forwarded a copy of the order.
Another possible wetlands violation at 308 Converse Road was determined not to be a violation within the wetlands, but one could be possible at 2 Washburn Park Road. Doubrava suggested the new owners of the horse farm file a Request for Determination for grading and fill already begun in the front pasture, and the owners must submit an engineer’s report before the commission can issue a Certificate of Compliance the new owners had requested for past work.
In other matters, the commission approved a three-year extension for the turtle garden at The Cove, filed by Debra Ewing.
Although the extension for ongoing work was granted, Doubrava expressed he could not support any future expansion of the “salt meadow” area that is mowed to enhance the turtle habitat restoration project, which Ewing had expressed an interest in doing during past meetings.
“I’m not in favor of expanding the mowed areas, given that they had a hard time living within the agreed-to mowed area this past year,” Doubrava said.
Last year, The Cove’s hired landscaper over-mowed the area, crossing marked barriers that were meant to distinguish the boundary of the area approved for mowing.
“And also, I’ve yet to be convinced that the mowing is actually doing anything positive for the box turtles,” continued Doubrava, “so I’m all right with extending it … but I’d like to see more data that, yes, we’re helping the box turtles by doing the mowing and have justified expanding the mowed area.”
Also during the meeting, the commission accepted the withdrawal of Great Hill’s Notice of Intent for underground culvert pipe repair and phragmites control. Continued from February 28, the scope of the project had become more complex than the applicant expected, so Cathy Stone, on behalf of Great Hill, withdrew the NOI and will reassess a future plan for pipe repair, wetlands flushing, and phragmites control.
The commission approved a Notice of Intent for Emmanuel DaCosta to install an in-ground swimming pool at 163 Cross Neck Road, and they also rendered a Negative 2 and 3 determination (no NOI required) for John and Maria Hartwell’s Request for Determination to upgrade a failed septic system with a conforming Title 5 system at 63 East Avenue.
The next meeting of the Marion Conservation Commission is scheduled for April 11 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Town House.
Marion Conservation Commission
By Jean Perry
They start off in the afternoon in a large group, leaving the high school campus and patiently waiting at the updated crosswalk for cars to stop and allow them to pass. The colorful group, clad in a rainbow of athletic gear, makes its way across Route 6 and heads down into the adjacent neighborhood for the beginning of their routine trek.
This increasingly familiar sight, of course, is the Southeast GRIT Team. GRIT, which stands for “Growing while Running and Inspiring Together,” is a group of training long-distance runners with members from the student, teacher, staff, and parent ORRHS communities. ORRHS science teacher Sheryl Briggs is one of the team’s mentors.
“We are a running program that trains students to run the Providence Marathon (or in some cases, the half marathon),” Briggs explained. “We meet two to three times during the week and on Saturday for our long run. Generally, we run 4.5 to five miles on Tuesdays and Thursdays and cross-training on Wednesdays. We began training back in October, and this past weekend we completed our twenty-mile long run. We have several returners and many new runners this year with some runners joining to train during the off-season for their specific sport. We are very accommodating to students needs.”
Senior Alice Bednarczyk said, “I had originally joined because I needed a way to fulfill my upperclassmen gym requirement, but then I found it was a really good way to get into running and to train yourself to exercise if you are unused to it.” Bednarczyk added, “I think a program that teaches kids how to be comfortable as they exercise (like GRIT) is something every school needs to have.… It’s a way for people who want to run – but don’t know how to start – to actually start running.”
Hannah Powers said she likes the feeling of accomplishment the most – and of course, the team shirts and the medals.
“It encourages kids to exercise but also to discover their limits aren’t as close as they seem,” said Powers.
GRIT embarked on a milestone 20-mile run last Saturday, in overall preparation for the end-of-year marathon that runners do in May. The last official road race the group was a part of was the New Bedford Half Marathon in mid-March, where 17 students and 15 adult mentors of GRIT completed the race.
One of the runners who completed it is senior Caitlin Stopka, who is in her first year running as part of GRIT.
“We have done three road races so far: the Fairhaven Turkey Trot (5K), the Frosty Road Race (10.5 miles), and the New Bedford Half Marathon,” said Stopka. “My favorite thing from it all is getting to work with my teachers and friends to see how much we are all capable of accomplishing.”
Stopka is one of the group who herself has an impressive accomplishment under her belt already.
“She is in her first year and yet she ran the challenging New Bedford Half Marathon in two hours on a windy, cold day,” Briggs praised. “Another senior, Georgie Battaglia, has run well over 800 miles with the program and will be completing her third marathon in May. Many of the other returning runners have also bettered their times this year at the various races.”
“Being a good teammate is more than just showing up to practices and doing your part,” said Bednarczyk summing it all up. “It’s about having your group’s backs and cheering each other on whenever possible, and GRIT has helped teach me that.”
ORR Update
By Jo Caynon