Rochester Council on Aging

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The Rochester Council on Aging is pleased to offer Soup and Sandwich Lunches every Monday at noon. Advance registration is required and a suggested donation for the meal is $4.

Thursday, March 1, legal appointments will be held from 3:00 – 4:00 pm.

Monday, March 5, the Art Group meets at 10:00 am. The Pampered Chef Demo begins at 11:30 am with a Pampered Chef Lunch to follow at noon.

Wednesday, March 7, do your grocery shopping at Market Basket. We leave at 8:30 am. Please call ahead to reserve a seat on the van.

Wednesday, March 7, the COA Board of Directors monthly meeting is at 9:00 am. Tax appointments are scheduled from 9:00 am to noon and the blood pressure clinic is at 10:30 am.

Other Announcements: Beginning in April!!! Senior Candlepin Bowling League held at the Ryan Family Amusements in Buzzards Bay on Monday mornings. Leave at 8:30 am and return at 11:30 am. Senior rate is $4 per game or 3 games for $10.25; shoe rental is free. Please call 508-763-8723 if you are interested.

The Rochester COA loan closet offers durable medical equipment including wheelchairs, canes, walkers, shower chairs, commodes, etc. You may borrow free for as long as you need it and return when you are finished with the item(s).

Need a place to hold a function? Ask the COA for a rental application to utilize its function hall for any family activity or event. Completed and submitted applications must be approved by the Board of Directors at its monthly meeting, held the first Wednesday of every month. The fee is contingent upon how much of the space will be used and for the time frame involved.

Shedding a Light on ‘Green’ Energy Savings

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The Marion Energy Management Committee is tasked with reviewing thousands of data points, a myriad of details associated with energy-consuming machines, buildings, systems, and the people that require the smooth and continuous flow of power to fuel modern-day living. No small task indeed. And the goal: to save the town real dollars through the utilization of fuel-saving equipment and processes.

The EMC has been studying everything from fuel-efficient town vehicles to sewer pumps and new building codes, leaving no stone unturned in their effort to help the town achieve ‘Green Community’ status with the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources.

During the February 26 meeting of the EMC, Bill Saltonstall gave a report on his efforts working with various town departments with an eye towards energy audits, a critical component of the overall review process. He said that in seeking to achieve a 20% energy use reduction over a five-year period – a requirement for Green Community certification – he was collecting data on fuel use, LED lights, and is planning energy audits for town-owned structures.

“In order to find that twenty percent, we are going to have to scratch around because we’ve done so much so far,” said Saltonstall. “I’ve been to all the buildings,” he said chuckling, “…The town barn is the worst – a real energy hog.”

Saltonstall said energy audits were needed to uncover areas where additional improvements could equate to additional savings, inching the town along towards completing a very long to-do list established by the Mass DER for certifying cities and towns as Green Communities.

The goal for securing certification not only carries the reward of saving the town money, but moreover it qualifies the town for grants, technical assistance from the Green Community Division, and local support in energy and cost reduction through clean energy projects in buildings, facilities, and schools.

            Some of the areas the committee has earmarked for further study include: renovation of the Town House; anti-idling equipment for police cruisers; LED streetlamps; thermostat upgrades for the Music Hall, Atlantis Drive building, and the library; upgrading of water and sewer pump stations; more electric or hybrid town vehicles; and solar arrays on town-owned buildings.

Regarding the energy-efficient vehicles the town currently owns, committee member Christian Ingerslev said that the general public needed access to the plug-in stations during the day. He said town vehicles were parked at the charging stations even when not re-charging, making public access impossible. The group thought sending a letter to the Board of Selectmen and other town departments alerting them that the stations are required to be open to the public during business hours was needed. Committee member Jennifer Francis said she would draft the missive.

On the matter of solar arrays in the community, it was reported that since zoning bylaw changes some five years ago that opened the door to private and commercial solar installations, 140 such installation were now operational in town.

Another important aspect of the Green Community process is the adoption of what is known at the Stretch Building Code. Adopted in 2009 by the International Building Code, the Stretch Code was added to the building code to provide greater energy-efficient alternatives to the standard energy provisions of the code. Although not mandated, the Stretch Code is part of the checklist for becoming a Green Community. Town Planner Gil Hilario said he had been in conversation with Building Inspector Scott Shippey regarding this addendum to the IBC, although at this point in time to no conclusion.

Earlier in the evening, committee member David Pierce brought up the matter of an October 20, 2017 open meeting complaint. “We’ve heard nothing from the state,” he said. Pierce concluded that a lack of any further communication on the matter generally meant it was closed. Ingerslev suggested keeping the matter open pending direction from town. The agenda item was tabled.

Pierce also said that he wanted to encourage public input and engagement with the EMC and hoped people would attend future meetings.

The next meeting of the Marion Energy Management Committee is scheduled for March 26 at 7:00 pm in the Marion Music Hall.

Marion Energy Management Committee

By Marilou Newell

 

Academic Achievements

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Gettysburg College students with a quality point average in the range of 3.300 to 3.599 for a semester’s work are placed on the Deans’ Commendation List. Rikard Bodin of Mattapoisett, Class of 2020, and Allegra Horstmann of Marion, Class of 2018, have been placed on the fall 2017 list.

Tapping Into Tradition in Rochester

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Just off Mattapoisett Road tucked in a corner behind some trees is a small, wooden shack billowing steam from an open skylight window. It’s an early late-winter morning – the time of year when warmer, more temperate days now dawn but still slip back into cold, subfreezing nights.

At Mike Forand’s house, these milder mornings are melting the earth beneath the surface, as evidenced by the wide tire tracks of mud that crisscross his yard. Beneath the ground things are stirring; roots are awakening. It’s the perfect weather pattern – warm days, cold nights – for Forand to tune in to nature, tap into tradition, and collect every last drop of early spring as it encroaches.

For just over a week now leading up to that Wednesday morning on February 21, Forand has been up and at it almost every morning at 6:30, going from maple tree to maple tree in his yard and at other locations around Rochester and Acushnet lifting the lids off of metal buckets fastened to the sides of the trees to see how much liquid has collected inside. He pours that clear watery liquid into larger buckets and takes them back home to that wooden shack. Before long, that ordinary shack is transformed into a “sugar shack” where the stuff of pancake and waffle dreams are made.

Forand has been making his own maple syrup for decades since he was a kid. His father designed and created his own system for filtering and boiling the clear, watery, sugary sap until it thickened and browned and condensed into what you pour all over your pancakes.

“It would take forever,” said Forand. “It was strictly for fun,” he added, since back in the day Forand’s dad’s operation would produce only a fraction of what Forand can process today.

Making maple syrup, however time consuming it was when he was a kid, is still a lengthy process. The sap itself is only about one percent sugar and 99 percent water. Forty gallons of sap will yield just one gallon of syrup!

The inside of Forand’s sugar shack today looks very different from old Dad’s. Forand’s system is much more ‘sophisticated’ than the one from his childhood. There is a wood-fired boiler bubbling and steaming away right as you enter the shack. Behind it is the filtration system that runs the sap through to remove any particles and impurities. On the other side of the room is Forand’s reverse osmosis evaporator, which he’s only had for two years. The machine speeds up the boiling process considerably by reducing roughly half the water content of the sap before moving it over to be boiled.

“If I were to put the sap in the boiler without reducing it, it would easily take twelve hours,” said Forand.

It’s still an all-day activity for Forand, even with the help of his son, Tim Forand, who feeds the boiler fire about every seven minutes with split pine logs that burn up fast, but burn really hot.

The shack is a pretty sweet spot in which to pass the time. Forand’s got a small flat screen TV inside to entertain between the steps of processing the syrup. Despite the technology – the TV, the shiny metal containers, and the yards of piping and plastic tubing – the shack still has that rustic feel to it. Lining the shelves are small antique glass bottles that Forand has dug up over the years in several locations on his 42 acres of land. A sign on the wall reads “Life is better on the farm,” while another says “This farm is my happy place.” And it’s a good thing, since the Forand men will be inside that sugar shack some nights until 10:30 finishing up another day’s batch of syrup.

Forand packages the finished product into small glass jars and slaps on a sticker with the label “MRF Farms.” He may sell a few bottles at a farmer’s market here and there, but the majority of it he gives away as little gifts. His maple-sugaring season lasts about six to eight weeks, depending on the weather – those warm days and cold nights are essential for tapping. And this year, all the wet weather the region has experienced only helps those maple trees produce more sap.

“The first day on February 10, I put the drill down,” said Forand, describing what happened when he installed his first tap of the season. “The sap was flowing out of the hole it was so fast.”

The night before, Forand went outside to check on the progress of the day’s sap collection and found just ten to 12 gallons. It’s usually more like 20 to 40 gallons on any given day, Forand said, “So I knew it was slowing down.”

It might sound ‘sappy’ to say, but as Tim Forand put it: “It’s a labor of love.”

“I love it,” said Mike Forand. “I look forward to this time of year. Who else in Rochester is making maple syrup around here?”

What’s most fascinating about it, Tim added, is the fact that sugaring is totally natural. “It’s from a tree! I mean, God makes it!”

“There’s something that happens when you tap trees,” said Mike Forand. “You cannot walk by these trees without looking inside those buckets.” Even Forand’s grandchildren are drawn into the fascination of sugaring. “Once the kids get off the bus, they run over to the buckets. They want to see how much sap is in them.”

Forand’s already got cases of bottles of his homemade golden maple syrup, and there are still a few weeks left to this sugaring season. The two Forand men will spend those next few weeks doing what they do every year, what the Forand men have been doing for decades – tapping into tradition and topping the pancakes of his friends with pure Rochester maple syrup. Which begs the question: Will Tim continue the Forand tradition after he inherits the sugar shack?

“I don’t know,” he says. “We’ll see. I guess I would… Yeah, probably…”

By Jean Perry

Rabies Clinic

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There will be a rabies clinic at the Mattapoisett Fire Station on Sunday, March 4 from 10:00 am until 12:00 pm. The cost for this vaccination is $15. Town of Mattapoisett dog licenses will be available for purchase. The license fee is $9 for spayed or neutered dogs; all others are $12. Dogs and cats only please. Residents and nonresidents are welcome.

Mattapoisett Historical Society Auditions

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The Mattapoisett Historical Society proudly announces music auditions for the Society’s 60th Anniversary Celebration! We are seeking musicians to volunteer to perform for this community event. Do you or your group play rock, classical, jazz, or folk music? Do you sing acapella, sea chanteys, or in a barbershop quartet? Please consider auditioning! We will be holding auditions on Sunday, March 11 from 1:00 – 3:00 pm at 5 Church Street, Mattapoisett. Please plan to play or sing one song. The Celebration will be on Saturday, May 19 from 1:00 – 6:00 pm at the Mattapoisett Historical Society and performers will be slotted into ½-hour sets throughout the afternoon. Come and join the fun! For more information, call 508-758-2844 or email info@mattapoisetthistoricalsociety.org.

Elizabeth Taber Library

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Seed Lending Library to start soon: The Elizabeth Taber Library, in partnership with the Marion Garden Group, will be offering seeds to check out again this year starting March 1! Community members may “check out” seeds for free from the Elizabeth Taber Library. The idea is that you plant the seeds, let some go to seed, then return these next generation seeds for others to borrow. We have a variety of seeds, so come check it out today! For more information, please call us at 508-748-1252 or stop into the library for some material on our seed program. Also, please save the date for our gardening program, led by Ian Penman, titled Avoiding Fallacies and Expensive Mistakes in the New England Garden on Thursday, March 15 at 6:00 pm. More details to come on this program.

Paperweight Collection on Exhibit: Please stop by the Elizabeth Taber Library to see our newly acquired 19th century French paperweight collection. This generous donation was made by the late Mr. William W. Claflin, Jr. who was a lifelong resident of Marion.

Mr. Claflin owned and operated Electronic Sales & Services, Inc. in New Bedford until his retirement in 2008. He was very involved in the Marion community by serving as communications specialist on the Marion Fire Department and also as Secretary, Historian and Treasure for the Marion Fire Fighters Association for over 50 years. He served with the Marion Social Club from 1983 until his passing.

This beautiful paperweight collection will be on display through June 15 at the Elizabeth Taber Library. For more information, please contact the library at 508-748-1252.

Mendoza Drops Out as Selectman Candidate

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Candidate for the Rochester Board of Selectmen Catherine Mendoza has withdrawn from the three-way race for selectman on Thursday, February 22, leaving a two-way race between current Finance Committee and Zoning Board of Appeals member David Arancio and Rochester’s Emergency Preparedness Director Paul Ciaburri.

Mendoza is known for her outspoken opposition to Wellspring Farm, the therapeutic horseback riding facility that abuts her Hiller Road residence.

Town Clerk (and current Selectman not running for re-election this year) Naida Parker told The Wanderer on Wednesday, February 21, that an allegedly “irate” Mendoza entered the Rochester Town Hall the day before demanding that Town Counsel Blair Bailey enforce the Town’s social media policy in regards to a Facebook post of hers. Parker stated that Mendoza commented that she was then considering dropping out of the race.

Parker, who has been a selectman for 15 years and town clerk for 34 years, said on February 21 that she would be retiring in 2020 and would not be seeking reelection as Rochester’s town clerk, either.

“It’s time for me to figure out what I’m gonna do when I grow up,” said Parker.

In other election news, the February 21 deadline has passed for returning completed nomination papers for the April 11 annual election and the list of candidates that will appear on the ballot is official.

Aside from Board of Selectmen, there will be only one other contested race this year for the Planning Board. Four, including two incumbents, are vying for two seats up for grabs. David Shaw, a current member of the Cemetery Commission, and resident Bill Milka are running against Planning Board incumbents Bendrix “Ben” Bailey and John DiMaggio.

Candidates running for other open elected positions this year will do so unopposed and will appear as follows:

Town Moderator, incumbent Kirby Gilmore; Tree Warden, incumbent Jeffrey Eldridge; Board of Health, incumbent Dale Barrows; Board of Assessors, incumbent Jana Cavanaugh; Plumb Library Trustees (two seats), newcomers Gloria Vincent and Jordan Pouliot; Park Commission, incumbent Kenneth Ross; Rochester School Committee (two seats), incumbents Tina Rood and Robin Rounseville; Old Rochester Regional School Committee, incumbent Cary Humphrey.

No one is running for the vacant seat on the Cemetery Commission previously held by Veronica Lafreniere who did not seek reelection.

The annual town election will be held on Wednesday, April 11, at the Rochester Council on Aging at 67 Dexter Lane. Polls open at 8:00 am and close at 8:00 pm.

By Jean Perry

 

Choose a Cause and Make a Difference

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To the Editor:

For months now, there have been announcements from Mattapoisett Town Hall seeking new volunteer committee and board members to fill vacancies. This week, there was a call for Cultural Council Committee members. Earlier, it was Conservation Committee. This letter is to encourage all community members to “Choose a Cause and Make a Difference.” (Thank you, Jillian Zucco for that great phrase!)

There are many, many people in Mattapoisett who love their community. Of these, many generously give of their time. There are many others who consider volunteering, but circumstances prevent or they find it hard to commit. There are others who step forward, only to ultimately drop back. Please, if you are not a volunteer, your community needs you … Town Boards and Committees, Council on Aging, Mattapoisett Housing Authority, FISH, Lions Club, Schools, Churches, Bike Path, Mattapoisett Land Trust, Garden Club, Women’s Club, Healthy Tri-Town Coalition, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and all the others. Meeting people from outside your usual routine and making a difference in your community is a wonderfully refreshing experience.

Again, “Choose Your Cause, Make A Difference!”

Thank you,

Bonne DeSousa, Friends of the Bike Path

 

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.

Seniors Relish Final Weeks at ORR

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With the third quarter already close to halfway over at Old Rochester Regional High School, the Class of 2018 is inching closer and closer to the end of their time at high school. In fact, members of the senior class have about 50 school days left before their last day of classes.

“Compared to the past three years, I believe that senior year has been the best of all. There is more excitement and unity amongst everyone this year,” Senior Vice President Rachel Demmer commented.

Despite the three calendar months left before graduation, the 191 students of this year’s senior class already have their sights set on the near future.

A glimpse at a map of the United States in the school lobby shows the variety of colleges to which they have already been accepted: UMass Amherst, Columbia University, St. Lawrence, Emerson, University of New Hampshire, and University of Oregon are just a few. Others will make their way directly into the workforce of the surrounding South Coast area.

Before they officially leave high school behind, there are a few fun activities the seniors still have to look forward to. First, the spring production of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory will be playing Thursday, March 22, through Saturday, March 25.

“It’s going to be wonderful! It’s the last show for some of us and it’s bittersweet,” said senior cast member Bella Rodrigues. “We have a really good cast and it will be fun for the whole family.”

The annual ‘Mr. ORR’ contest and senior breakfast will occur in early May. Both events are times for the class as a whole to celebrate their four-year journey and laugh together for some of the last times as classmates.

The last day of classes for seniors is Friday, May 18, which leaves a packed day as they have the senior barbecue in the afternoon followed by a night at Six Flags New England.

“As long as the trip passes the school committee in March, we will leave that afternoon or evening and take coach busses up to Six Flags,” Demmer said. “Along with other senior classes from New England, we will have the park from 8:00 pm to 5:00 am, with unlimited rides. It also comes with a buffet meal!”

The Senior Prom will be held Wednesday, May 30, the first Wednesday in recent memory, according to the school’s Facebook page.

“Prom tickets are still looking pretty expensive,” said Class Senator Sophie Gurney, “and although we’ve fundraised a lot already, there is still a GoFundMe page for the senior class and any donations would be greatly appreciated!”

“We have had lots of help from some awesome senior class parents who have organized baskets and fundraisers and have even come together on their own time to help come up with new and exciting ideas,” Demmer added. “The GoFundMe page is up to $1,250, and we raised a little over $2,500 between our class-donated bake sale and senior superlatives.”

With the June 2 graduation date approaching quickly, it has also become a time of reflection for students.

“Overall, I think we have made our mark as a whole on the school whether it is through academics, sports, art, or music,” Demmer said. “We have such a talented class and I honestly think that every single person has grown so much and helped each other to become better people.”

Gurney summed it up eloquently: “Treasure every moment of your senior year because it goes by in the blink of an eye.”

ORR Update

By Jo Caynon