Chamber Music Series

on

On January 13 and 14, the South Coast Chamber Music Series presents “Ritmos Caliente” with virtuoso guitarist Aaron Larget-Caplan. This winter concert features a selection of spicy Latin American music including Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Fantasia for Guitar and Piano, Manuel de Falla’s seductive cycle “Siete Canciones Populares Españolas,” and Niccolò Paganini’s piquant Terzetto Concertante. The program holds the boil with Joaquin Turina’s Piano Quartet, and Astor Piazzolla’s shimmering “Oblivion” and “Summer” for piano trio.

Larget-Caplan is an international touring and recording artist, and “a unique talent not to be missed,” per The Washington Post. He has performed solo and chamber music in Russia, Europe, and the United States. He will perform with Chamber musicians Janice Weber, piano and Artistic Director; Piotr Buczek, violin; Don Krishnaswami, viola; and Timothy Roberts, cello. Saturday’s concert will take place at 4:00 pm at St. Gabriel’s Church, 124 Front Street, Marion. Sunday’s concert will take place at 4:00 pm at St. Peter’s Church, 351 Elm Street, South Dartmouth. Admission is $20 at the door, or purchase in advance online at www.nbsymphony.org/season-subscriptions#chamber-tickets (please bring receipt for admission).

The South Coast Chamber Music Series was formed in 2001 to present high-quality classical chamber music for the communities of Southeastern Massachusetts. Each program presents an engaging array of styles, timbres, and artists in lively acoustic environments in Marion and South Dartmouth. We joined forces with the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra in 2014, giving both organizations an opportunity to expand in all directions—more concerts, more musicians, and more music. To learn more about the Chamber Series, visit www.nbsymphony.org/southcoast-chamber-music-series.

Elizabeth Taber Library

on

Free Technology Demos: Thursdays at 11:00 am. Have you been wanting to learn more about the free online resources offered to Marion library card holders? Well now is your chance! Join us for these free Thursday workshops at 11:00 am:

– January 11: Navigating through your iPhone and iPad

– January 18: Getting free digital magazines on your device through Zinio

– January 25: Streaming free movies through InstantFlix

– February 1: Finding your next great read through Novelist

– February 8: Using the Boston Public Library free e-resources with a BPL e-Card

Registration is required. Please call, email, or stop into the Elizabeth Taber Library to register.

Meet Libby Demos: Join us on Tuesday, January 16 at 11:00 am or Thursday, January 18 at 4:00 pm for a Meet Libby demo. We’ll go over how to access and download eBooks and audiobooks through Overdrive’s new reading app, Libby.

Scrabble Club: Wednesdays at 11:00 am. This winter, join us at the Elizabeth Taber Library every second and fourth Wednesday of the month (January 10, 24 and February 14, 28) for a friendly game of Scrabble. All levels of play are welcome. For more information, please call the Library at 508-748-1252.

Douglas “Doug” Cameron Rounseville

on

Douglas “Doug” Cameron Rounseville, 71 of 44 Braley Hill Road Rochester, MA died peacefully at home on Wednesday January 3, 2018 surrounded by his loving family. Doug was born on January 27, 1946 to the late Lorenzo Braley and Christine Bennett (Souza) Rounseville. Doug was a long time resident of Rochester, growing up here as a child. Doug married his best friend Lucy in 1972 and moved to the state of Washington and had three of their four children. After living out west for eight years, they moved back east and built a home here in Doug’s hometown of Rochester and had their fourth child. Doug was a registered nurse for over 50 years. Doug graduated from Holy Ghost Hospital in Cambridge, MA in 1967. He then went on to earn his Associates Degree from Bristol Community College and his Bachelors Degree and Advanced Degree at Walla Walla University in Washington. At the time of his death Doug was still working in the field that he loved. Besides nursing, Doug loved to cook, spend time with his family and friends, and travel, especially to Alaska, Florida and New Hampshire. Doug is survived by his wife Lucy, daughter Rachel Rounseville of New Bedford, daughter Rebecca Smallwood and son in law Michael of New Bedford, daughter Ruth Rounseville of Rochester, son Robert Rounseville of New Bedford, brother Wayne Rounseville and wife Joann of Spokane, WA, brother Scott Rounseville and wife Robin of Rochester, grandchildren James Deree, Lilyann Rounseville, Gabriel Smallwood and many nieces, nephews, and grand nieces and nephew. Please join us for A Celebration of Life on January 27, 2018 from 11:00 am – 2:00 pm at the Rochester Senior Center 67 Dexter Ln. Rochester, Ma 02770. In lieu of flowers please consider giving to one of the following charitable organizations in Doug’s name.
Wounded Warrior Project www.woundedwarriorproject.org
St. Jude Hospital www.stjude.org
NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Health) Massachusetts www.namimass.org
Defenders of Wildlife www.defenders.org

Josephine M. (Viera) Rogers

on

Josephine M. (Viera) Rogers, 94, of Fairhaven died January 6, 2018 at Our Lady’s Haven after a brief illness.

She was the wife of the late Frank P. Rogers.

Born in New Bedford, the daughter of the late Joseph and Alice (Preston) Viera, she lived in Mattapoisett and Rochester most of her life before moving to Fairhaven.

Mrs. Rogers was formerly employed as a registered nurse in several local hospitals and doctor’s offices for many years before retiring as supervisor from Parkwood Hospital.

She was an active member of the Rochester Council on Aging and she enjoyed reading and bowling.

Survivors include her daughter, Jill Bodeau and her husband Paul of Rochester; 2 grandsons, Scott Bodeau and his wife Deanna of Rochester and Todd Bodeau and his wife Meghann of Acushnet; 4 great-grandchildren, Allison Bodeau, Thomas Bodeau, Isabel Bodeau and Scott Bodeau, II; a cousin, Doris Blanchard of Fairhaven and her sons, Bruce Blanchard and David Blanchard; 4 nieces and a nephew.

Her Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Wednesday at 10 am at St. Rose of Lima Church in Rochester. Her family will receive guests at church on Wednesday from 9:30 – 10 am prior to her Mass. Visiting hours are omitted. Burial will follow in St. Anthony’s Cemetery. 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 the Rochester Council on Aging, 67 Dexter Ln., Rochester, MA 02770. For online guestbook, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.

Robert Burns and “Auld Lang Syne”

on

The melody and lyrics of this New Year anthem of remembrance or fraternity sung when the clock strikes midnight was first transcribed by Robert Burns in 1788.

Burns set the tune to the traditional folklore of another poet, making him co-author of this emblem of a musical year ending soon to be known all over the English-speaking world.

In Scotland, it became associated with the traditional dance called Hogmanay when everyone joins hands around in a circle like a square dance. At the beginning of the last verse, everyone crosses arms across their chest as the right hand reaches out to grasp their neighbor’s hand in friendship as in my illustration, which also shows Burns taking a champagne cup of kindness.

The song soon became a tradition of New Year’s Eve as well as other reminiscing events. They included farewells, funerals, and other memorials, while also symbolizing new beginnings such as graduations, scouting jamborees, election of new governments, hymns, weddings, parades, and anthems, and best-known incorporated in “America the Beautiful.”

Over the years, it transcended into many foreign languages when its pentatonic scale was matched to scales used in Japan, Korea, India, China, and other Eastern Asian cultures. However, it perhaps reached international recognition when in 1929 it was greatly aggrandized by Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadian Orchestra. For half a century, Lombardo charmed the entertainment world with his accompaniment of New Year celebrations until his death in 1977.

The song became popular in high New York society for gathering in Times Square for the ritualistic dropping of the ball at the stroke of midnight by people like William Randolph Hearst and Henry Ford. Other industrialist Americans could personally relate to Burns as one of them, because he was a truly self-made man.

For instance, in Scotland he was known as the ploughman’s poet, deeply inspired and connected with rural laborers by traveling through the countryside, collecting and mending verse and music melded into his interpretative prose – one of his most famous is the iconic tale of Tam o’ Shanter.

He said that he learned “Auld Lang Syne” from talking with an old man in his country travels, perhaps making it a cultural inspiration of historical Scotland.

Consequently, may I suggest that at the stroke of midnight during the playing of the song, we all might lift a cup of kindness or a glass of champagne as a toast to his immortal inspiration.

At this fleeting moment, time may seem to stand still enough to bring back the memory of auld acquaintance in our lives, and for us to deeply reminisce during the meaningful passage of one year into another.

By George B. Emmons

Gateway Youth Hockey

on

The Gateway Gladiator Mite C team met their match on Saturday as they lost to the Canal Sharks. It was their last game of 2017, and they were very short handed, only having five skaters. They gave it everything they had, facing a tough goaltender from Canal. Tomas doCanto scored the lone goal for the Gladiators, shooting it over the goalie’s shoulder. Kaden Silva played well in net, making many saves for the Gladiators.

Sippican Woman’s Club

on

The Sippican Woman’s Club invites members and guests to join our monthly meeting on Friday, January 12 at 12:30 pm. We will meet at our clubhouse, 152 Front Street, Marion. Marion resident and Tabor Academy teacher David Pierce will give a PowerPoint presentation on “The Sippican Hotel & Casino.” David will take us back in time to what is referred to in our little seaside town as its “Golden Age.” David will allow us an opportunity to imagine ourselves sitting on the hotel’s verandas by day and dancing in the casino’s second floor ballroom in the evening.

The Sippican Hotel, once located on the corner of South and Water Streets, started out as a two-story farm house built in 1794. In 1864, the former farm house became The Bay View House and a third floor was added. In 1882, an additional wing was added and a final four-story addition was added in 1907.

In the early 1900s, famed artists, presidents, literary people, and well-to-do families from Boston and New York came for the summer and enjoyed the comforts of The Sippican Hotel and Casino located across the street on the harbor where guests could gamble, listen to music, dance in the ballroom or play tennis on adjacent courts. Summer residents came by train, then trolley from Wareham with their luggage following by horse and carriage.

The hotel was sold to a Boston syndicate that planned to convert the hotel into a Tavern and the Casino into a dance hall, but with the advent of The Great Depression, the hotel and casino were torn down in 1929. Thus, the memories of a bygone era live on through the documentation of people like David Pierce who bring history alive for us.

The Sippican Woman’s Club meets on the second Friday of the month (September through March) at 12:30 pm, with a finger-food luncheon, followed by a business meeting at 1:00 pm and program at 1:30 pm. The meetings are held at The Sippican Woman’s Club, Handy’s Tavern, 152 Front Street, Marion. Parking is available at Island Wharf Road parking lot. Guests may RSVP to: Info@SippicanWomansClub.org. For membership information, contact Jeanne Lake at 508-748-0619 or visit our website: www.sippicanwomansclub.org.

Hot? Pot?? Selectman Slot???

on

Hot? Not inside Marion’s historic Town House building.

As the Wolf Moon hung high above the frozen landscape of Marion on January 2, inside the ye olde Town House the temperature was a chilly 51°F. The furnace had finally gone caput!

A major agenda item for the Board of Selectmen was next steps in not only providing staff and visitors to the building with a comfortable temperature in which to conduct business, but also in keeping pipes and other vital systems in the structure from damage due to extremely low internal temperatures.

Facilities Manager Sean Cormier discussed with the selectmen stopgap measures that could be used to provide the building with heat while a new boiler is purchased and installed.

Cost estimates for a new boiler were $74,000 but as town administrator Paul Dawson pointed out, there would be other associated expenses that would bring the sum closer to $100,000. Cormier said that a temporary heating solution could run anywhere from $1,000 to $4,000 per week.

Dawson said that he would contact the state to let them know about the emergency and the need to bypass regulated purchasing protocols given the emergency at hand.

The selectmen approved Dawson’s request. They also agreed to move forward on adding a line item to transfer funds for the new heating system to a newly announced special town meeting in February.

Regarding that special town meeting, it was brought up during discussions regarding a moratorium on pot sales in Marion.

The subject of requesting a moratorium on the soon-to-be-legislated “adult use marijuana” state laws prompted appearances by Planning Board Chairman Eileen Marum, Karen Walega of the Board of Health, and attorney Cheryl Sbarra, director of law and policy for the Massachusetts Association of Health Boards.

Marum said that given the short window between when the state’s regulations would become law in March and the first applications for opening retail establishments in April would be accepted, there simply wasn’t time to write bylaws. She asked the selectmen to set a special town meeting date with a warrant article that would ask voters to request a temporary moratorium from the state, thus giving the town’s various boards sufficient time to write bylaws.

Marum said that since Marion’s voters had approved the use of recreational marijuana, the town now had to go through a two-pronged process if they wanted to ban it completely. The first step in that process would be a warrant article asking voters to put the question on a ballot in an upcoming election cycle. Tonight, she asked for support on a moratorium giving the town time to weigh its options.

Sbarra came forward and said that Attorney General Maura Healey had been quickly granting requests from cities and towns granting moratoriums until the end of December 2018. “You can prohibit the sale of marijuana in town, but it is a more tedious process,” Sbarra said. She also said that those municipalities that had voted against the legal use of marijuana did not have to go through such lengths to ban it totally from their communities.

Regarding bylaws, Sbarra said that as long as local bylaws were reasonable and didn’t conflict with state regulations, passage would be easier.

The selectmen were in agreement that a moratorium should be sought and accepted a draft warrant article that Marum presented.

Dawson suggested the selectmen set the date of February 15 for a special town meeting. That special session would now have two warrant articles – monies to cover Facility Department expenses associated with a new boiler for the Town House and whether or not to seek a moratorium on pot sales in Marion.

In other business, Dawson said that during the next selectmen’s meeting candidates for the vacant council on aging directorship would be interviewed. Dawson also said that he had not been able to find a temporary replacement to fill the position of Department of Public Works Superintendent. The selectmen agreed that the position should be advertised.

On the theme of vacancies, Jody Dickerson announced that he would not be seeking another term as selectman in the May elections.

“I’ve given a quarter of my life to the town,” Dickerson said.

Dickerson thanked all the department heads he has worked with over the years with a special nod to Administrative Assistant Deb Paiva for helping him. Of Dawson Dickerson said, “Paul has the most thankless job in any community … he has been the most professional administrator I’ve worked with.” Dickerson also thanked the townspeople for their support but added with tongue in cheek that his fifteen years had been longer than some sentences handed down for crimes.

The next meeting of the Marion Board of Selectmen is scheduled for February 6 at 7:00 pm in the town house conference room.

Marion Board of Selectmen

By Marilou Newell

 

Rochester Democratic Town Committee

on

The next meeting of the Rochester Democratic Town Committee is Thursday, January 11 at 6:30 pm at the Rochester Police Station on Dexter Lane. We will discuss committee goals and projects for the coming year.

MAC Actor Needed

on

We have a fantastic cast ready to start rehearsals for the spring production at Marion Art Center, but we are still looking for a young male (who looks 20-30 years old) to play Paul Bratter.

The production is a whimsical, domestic comedy set in Manhattan in the 1960s. Paul and Corie Bratter are young newlyweds starting off their lives together, along with a meddling mother-in-law, an eccentric neighbor, and an affable telephone installation lady.

Production dates are March 16-18 and 22-24. Contact Pippa Asker at 508-509-6482 or pasker@comcast.net for more information; auditions may be arranged.