Elizabeth Taber Library Artist of the Month

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The Elizabeth Taber Library’s “Artist of the Month” is Corinna Raznikov. With over twenty years experience photographing around the world, she creates beautiful, meaningful images.

Corinna has a B.A. from the University of the Pacific and studied the history of photography at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. A permanent installation of her work, The Baby Project, was installed at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She was awarded Best of Boston Wedding Photographer by Boston Magazine in 2014.

The Artist of the Month series has been an ongoing display for over four years. The artist must live in Marion and have a body of artwork ready to hang along the eastern wall of the library. The exhibit changes every month. This is a celebration of the cultural community of Marion and a way for our local artists to share their talent with our patrons.

Storm Sends Another Blow to Tri-Town

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We’ve got those snow-blowing blizzard-blasting no-lights hurry-up-Eversource stuck-inside bread-and-milk winter-weary enough-of-this-insanity blues again.

Spring in the Tri-Town couldn’t feel any farther away from us than it does right now. Residents in Marion, Mattapoisett, and Rochester have lost their power – again – and, without a doubt, their patience along with it.

Mother Nature has sided with the groundhog sending us not one, but three Nor’easters within two weeks. As tree limbs fall around us so do our dreams of an ending to winter; as wires come down, so do our spirits.

Again, the Tri-Town emergency dispatch radio chatter was constant with reports of trees blocking roads, power outages, and cars stuck in the snow—same situations, only the street names and dates have changed.

Rochester was first to open up an emergency warming station around mid-day Tuesday. By noon, most of Marion was again without power, and half of Mattapoisett and Marion were forced into power-saving mode on their smart phones and tablets. By dark, Marion and Mattapoisett in collaboration had opened an emergency shelter at ORR.

As of press time, 70 percent of Mattapoisett still sits in the dark, 54 percent of Marion is stuck with no Wi-Fi, and over in Rochester 47 percent are still walking into rooms flipping on light switches out of habit and then remembering that they have no electricity.

The storm was still in progress by the time we at The Wanderer ‘put this baby to bed’ Tuesday night, so we have no official wind gust strengths or snow totals to report to you for this week’s edition. But what we can tell you is this: next Tuesday, March 20, is the first day of spring. — just five days away from the release of this week’s print edition.

There are still some hurdles ahead of us next week with some nighttime temps dipping into the teens early on but, even as the snow still falls, Tri-Town is melting into spring. So hold tightly to the sides of this same boat we find each other in as we sail into spring and then into summer, and remember this in August while we’re complaining about the heat and the drought.

“Complain about summer? Not me!” say us all.

Got photos of the storm? Send them to us (along with photo credit information) at news@wanderer.com so we can print them in next week’s edition.

By Jean Perry

 

Tri-County Symphonic Band

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The Tri-County Symphonic Band, under the direction of Philip Sanborn, will continue its 56th season with a program entitled “March Mania” on Sunday, March 18 at 3:00 pm in the Fireman Performing Arts Center at Hoyt Hall on the campus of Tabor Academy, 235 Front Street, Marion, Massachusetts. “March Mania” will be a vibrant collection of band repertoire that celebrates, accentuates and illuminates the month of March. The Resurgam Saxophone Quartet will be the soloists in a program that mixes new music with some venerable favorites.

The concert begins with “Chester” composed by William Schuman. “Chester” is based on the third movement of Schuman’s “New England Triptych,” considered to be his most famous work. Music from composer Frederick Delius will follow with his ode to the changing season, “On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring.” Performed for the third time ever, composer Ted King-Smith’s “Breaking Point” will electrify the audience with its new, unique and energizing soundscape for saxophone quartet as interpreted by The Resurgam Quartet.

The Resurgam Quartet formed in 2015 at the Hartt School in Hartford, CT. Its current members are Harrison Kliewe (soprano saxophone), Colette Hall (alto saxophone), Sean Tanguay (tenor saxophone), and Michael Raposo (baritone saxophone). Recently, the quartet was a semi-finalist at the international Fischoff Chamber Music Competition for the second time. The quartet also won the 2016 Paranov Concerto Competition at the Hartt School performing William Bolcom’s “Concerto Grosso.” Resurgam enjoys an active performing schedule. Dedicated to expanding the saxophone quartet repertoire, the quartets latest commission “Breaking Point” is set to be premiered in March, 2018 at the North American Saxophone Alliance’s Biennial Conference. The Quartet also presented a concert of new works at the Hartford New Music Festival and will continue to create new music for the saxophone quartet. Education is an important part of Resurgam’s mission, which has presented masterclasses and educational concerts in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, and Indiana.

A Norwegian march closes out the first half of the program. Johannes Hanssen was one of Norway’s most active and influential bandmasters, composers, and teachers during the first part of the 20th century. He wrote the march “Valdres” as a tribute to the beautiful region in Norway between Oslo and Bergen.

The second half opens with a march for an unlikely group: “March of the Belgian Paratroopers.” It is a delicate, European-style march that is uniquely tuneful and is sure to delight. The next two pieces are a tribute to the Irish who will have celebrated St. Patrick’s Day the day before the concert. “Irish Tune from County Derry” is Percy Grainger’s masterful setting of the traditional folk song we know today as “Danny Boy.” The powerful “Ireland: Of Legend & Lore” is certain to set the Irish blood boiling as tin whistle and bodhran help the full band to portray castles and colorful characters from Irish history and folklore and put their legendary deeds to music.

The concert will close with the Resurgam Quartet joining the band for William Bolcom’s “Concerto Grosso for Saxophone Quartet and Band.” A student of Darius Milhaud, Bolcom taught composition at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and served as chairman of the composition department from 1998 to 2003. Bolcom has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize, four Grammy Awards, and the National Medal of Arts. “Concerto Grosso” was written purely as a piece to be enjoyed by performers and listeners. The second movement, “Song without Words,” is a lyrical larghetto and the final Badinerie, a title borrowed from Bach, evokes bebop and rhythm-and-blues.

Since 1962 the Tri-County Symphonic Band has been part of the cultural life of Southeastern Massachusetts. The primary aim of the organization has been to make live performances of quality concert band repertoire available in the community and to give musicians a chance to share their love for the art of making music.

Tickets for the concert are $15 for adults, $5 for students, with children 12 and under admitted for free. Tickets can be purchased at the Symphony Music Shop in Dartmouth and The Bookstall in Marion. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.brownpapertickets.com. Any remaining tickets will be sold at the door.

MAC Presents Barefoot in the Park

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Marion Art Center announces that ticket sales have begun for its spring production of Neil Simon’s Barefoot in the Park, presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc. and sponsored by American Research Management Co., Fieldstone Farm Market, and Barden’s Boat Yard. The romantic comedy, which is perhaps best known for its 1967 movie counterpart starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda, tells the story of a newlywed couple in 1963 Manhattan adjusting to married life in a small, walk-up apartment while dealing with the wife’s widowed mother, an eccentric neighbor, and a telephone repairman who gets caught in the middle of the mayhem … and laughter ensues.

Director Pippa Asker leads the production with Steve McManus as Sound & Lighting Director and Dot McCarthy as Stage Manager. The cast of six includes South Coast locals: Kate Fredericks, Annemarie Fredericks, Sue Massey, Tristan McCann, Thom O’Shaughnessy and Harvey Ussach.

MAC will run a total of six shows including: Friday, March 16 at 7:30 pm; Saturday, March 17 at 7:30 pm; Sunday, March 17 at 2:00 pm; Thursday, March 22 at 7:30 pm; Friday, March 23 at 7:30 pm; and Saturday, March 24 at 7:30 pm. Purchasing tickets in advance is highly recommended and may be done in person at the Marion Art Center (located at 80 Pleasant Street in Marion, MA) or by calling 508-748-1266. Tickets are $18 for MAC members and $20 for non-members; payments are accepted by cash, check and credit card. MAC’s recently updated “Anne Braitmayer Webb Theater” offers new theater-style seating as well as cabaret tables (for parties of 4), and guests are welcome to bring their own refreshments.

The Marion Art Center, founded in 1957, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the visual and performing arts.

Academic Achievements

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Ariel Etheridge, a member of the Colgate University Class of 2018, has earned the Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence. Etheridge is from Rochester and is a graduate of Tabor Academy. Etheridge’s current major is educational studies.

Students who receive a term grade point average of 3.3 or higher while completing at least three courses earn the fall 2017 Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence.

The following Tri-Town students were named to the 2017 fall semester dean’s list at Simmons College in Boston:

– Jessica Lynne Rush of Marion, majoring in political science

– Sophia J Lange of Mattapoisett, majoring in chemistry

– Lillian Rose McIntire of Mattapoisett, majoring in nursing

– Emily Lucia Josephson of Rochester

To qualify for dean’s list status, undergraduate students must obtain a grade point average of 3.5 or higher, based on 12 or more credit hours of work in classes using the letter grade system.

Galen L. Stone II

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Ambassador Galen L. Stone II, an influential senior diplomat and WWII veteran who in retirement helped direct numerous educational and philanthropic organizations in the greater Boston area, passed away on January 23 surrounded by his loving family.

Ambassador Stone was born on the 4th of July in 1921, the eldest child of Robert G. Stone and Bertha Lea Barnes. He grew up in Brookline, MA, attended The Park School, Milton Academy, and Harvard College, and summered in Marion at his family’s beloved Great Hill property. In 1942, he enlisted in the Army and joined the US Army Corps of Engineers as a second lieutenant. He landed in Normandy while still under fire, and after VE Day was appointed Military Governor at age 24 over some 50,000 people in the greater Leipzig region of Germany. He remained active in the Army Reserve until 1970, and rose to the rank of Colonel.

Amb. Stone joined the Foreign Service in 1947 and served in numerous posts around the world. He became Deputy Chief of Mission in New Delhi, India and also served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Paris, France. He subsequently served as US Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, and to the Republic of Cyprus. Amb. Stone was a recipient of the State Department’s Meritorious Honor Award.

After retiring from the State Department in 1981, Mr. Stone’s commitment to public service continued in his private life, as he helped guide and support more than a dozen Boston area educational and philanthropic organizations. He notably served as Chairman of the Board of Overseers of Northeastern University, as Chairman of the Harvard-Yenching Institute, as a Trustee of New England Baptist Hospital and as a Director and Treasurer of United South End Settlements.

Mr. Stone’s son Brewer stated, “My father experienced both the Great Depression and the Second World War, which gave him a deep sense of empathy and lifelong desire to serve. He was born into privilege and spent his life giving back.”

Mr. Stone is survived by his loving wife of 70 years, Anne Brewer Stone, and by his brother Henry, of St. Clair Shore, MI. He is also survived by five children, Diana, of Asheville, NC; Mary Smith of Plainville; Pamela Evans of Marion; Galen III of Marion; Brewer of Mill Valley, CA.; 14 grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Mr. Stone loved spending time with his large extended family at Great Hill, taking long swims in the Bay, and cycling throughout the area. A regular participant in the Marion July 4th parade as a WWII veteran, he had a big smile for everyone he met, and was a by all accounts a true gentleman.

A service to celebrate Mr. Stone’s long and wonderful life will be held on May 26, 2018, at 11 a.m. at Great Hill.

Theatre One Productions

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Opening on March 16 for two weekends and closing Sunday, March 25, Theatre One Productions brings to the Alley Stage at 133 Center Street in Middleboro Neil Simon’s hit comedy The Last of the Red Hot Lovers, directed by Dan Groves of Wareham. Tickets are cash only at the door; $18 for Seniors/Students and $20 for General Admission. Show times: Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 2:00 pm. Doors open ½ hour prior to show. We collect food donations at all our performances for the Middleboro COA Senior Pantry. Info: 774-213-5193.

Barney Cashman (Robert Duquette of Somerset) is a middle-aged, bumbling seafood restaurant owner, married for 23 years. He hopes to experience the excitement of illicit romance before his time runs out. He has chosen his mother’s apartment as a safe place to pursue romantic adventures, as she volunteers one day a week at a local hospital until 5:00 pm.

His first attempt is with a customer from his restaurant, Elaine Navazio (Susan Salvesen of Marion) who is bored with her 280-pound husband and often ventures into affairs.

His second attempt is with Bobbi Michelle (Sheila Kelleher of Plymouth), a psychotic, unemployed nightclub singer who lives with her Nazi vocal coach. “She is not just German,” says Bobbi, “she is actually Nazi, wears black shirts, boots, the whole thing.”

Barney’s third attempt is with his wife’s best friend, Jeanette Fischer (Kathy Bourne of Middleboro). He invites her to a rendezvous for the afternoon after Jeanette came on to him at a recent dinner party. When Jeanette arrives, she isn’t exactly what Barney was expecting at all!        “Delightfully hilarious and witty, filled with wisdom about human nature,” quotes The New York Post. “Mr. Simon has created a great character here … extraordinarily funny and yet also charming,” quotes The New York Times.

Court Upholds Permits for Bitumen Project

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A group of Rochester residents, through their attorney Ben O’Grady, are seeking the assistance of the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA), a division of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. The reason for the request: the apparent resurrection of plans for a bituminous concrete manufacturing facility on five acres off Kings Highway that recently saw the light of day after years in litigation.

Attorney Stephen Meltzer and environmental scientist Briscoe Lang went before the Rochester Conservation Commission on March 6, representing the project owner Gerry Lorruso of Edgewood Development Company. Taking the lead in the discussion, Meltzer gave a brief history of the project that predates not only his involvement with the company, but also predates appointments of several Conservation Commission members.

Meltzer said a Notice of Intent filed in 2010 underwent thorough review by various town boards, including the Conservation Commission – a process taking many months. The project was conditioned. However, that decision was later appealed, as were several other decisions that sent the project to land court and the Massachusetts Appeals Court.

The final decision upheld the permits.

Meltzer is seeking an extension to previously granted conditions so that the project might finally begin.

But Attorney O’Grady asked the commissioners to consider that he is seeking to have the project oversight moved to MEPA. He said, “Our concerns are that site conditions have changed, the commission’s conditions are seven years old, [and] the board members have changed.”

O’Grady said, given that the development group is seeking to build an industrial facility in a wooded area close to wetlands, another review cycle was warranted.

Lang rose, saying, “The wetlands are manmade. They are the same; they have not changed – the wetland lines have not changed, nor has the project or the bylaws.” He said he would welcome the commission to a site visit to address any questions the commissioners might have and to give the newer members an opportunity to review the file.

O’Grady also presented the group with a letter from a wetland scientist, but ConCom Chairman Daniel Gagne said they needed time to digest the newly submitted letter. He also asked Conservation Agent Laurell Farinon to provide any and all documents for their review and to advise the commissioners on the impact their decision will have on MEPA involvement.

MEPA conducts reviews of the environmental impact of projects that require one or more state agency actions including soliciting public opinion, coordination of project review with proponents, consultants, and citizens, and makes recommendations to the secretary on the adequacy of environmental documentation.

The request was continued until April 17 with an April 14 site visit date scheduled.

In other business, on an unrelated project, Meltzer received a Negative Determination for a Request for Determination of Applicability for construction of a new home located at 157 Forbes Road.

The commissioners also issued a Certificate of Compliance to Derek Maksy for property located at 44 Clear Pond Road.

The next meeting of the Rochester Conservation Commission is scheduled for March 20 at 7:00 pm in the Town Hall meeting room.

Rochester Conservation Commission

By Marilou Newell

 

School Vacation Performing Arts Program

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Registrations are now being accepted for Showstoppers’ 14th Annual School Vacation Performing Arts Program to be held April 16-20 from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm daily at the Congregational Church in Mattapoisett. This year, we are offering a Junior Program for elementary school students as well as a Senior Program for students in junior high and high school. A Broadway Musical Showcase will be presented to the public at 7:00 pm on Friday, April 20. $175 per child includes performance CD, T-shirt, daily snacks and certificate of completion. Don’t delay! Reserve your spot today! For more information or to register, call 508-758-4525 or email kzucco@comcast.net. Additional information can be found at https://www.facebook.com/showstopppers.us/.

Help Make Marion Even Greater!

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Help Make Marion Even Greater!

No question, we live in an extraordinary town. How did it get that way, and how is it staying that way? We can thank many caring, dedicated residents before us who stepped up to serve on our boards, committees, and commissions.

Our elections are coming up on Friday, May 18, and there are several positions that need to be filled. Please consider running for one of them: two seats on the Selectboard for either 1 or 3 years; two 3-year seats on the Planning Board; a 1-year position as Moderator; and 3-year terms on the Board of Assessors, Board of Health, Marion School Committee, and the Marion Open Space and Acquisitions Committee. Election papers are now available at the Town Clerk’s office, and they must be returned by March 26. Candidates’ Night will be held at 7:00 pm on Thursday, May 3 in the Music Hall.

Many non-elected volunteer groups and committees also exist, so please ask about the possibilities. Be a Marion “difference-maker” – our town won’t stay great without you.

For more information, please contact Town Clerk Lissa Maguaran at 508-748-3502 or a member of the group you are interested in at MarionMa.gov.

Jennifer Francis

Member of Tri-Town League of Women Voters

 

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.