Noëlla (Trahan) Chevalier

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Noëlla (Trahan) Chevalier, age 95, of Rochester, passed away Friday, November 16, 2018 at home surrounded by her loving family. She was the wife of the late Ernest Chevalier and the daughter of the late Polydore and Alexina (Quintin) Trahan. Noëlla worked as an inspector and supervisor for the Acushnet Company for many years until her retirement.

Noëlla was referred to as “the Matriarch” of her large family that includes her children Connie Pira and her husband Peter of Oceanside, CA, William Chevalier and his wife Ann of Colorado Springs, CO, Russell Chevalier and his wife Suzanne of Taunton, MA, David Chevalier and his wife Linda of Fairhaven, MA, Paul Chevalier and his wife Maureen of Milton, NH and Janet Galipeau and her husband Richard of Rochester, MA.

Noëlla loved her 24 grandchildren, 56 great-grandchildren and 2 great-great grandchildren. She could tell you each and every one of their birthdates. She was predeceased by her beloved daughter Phyllis Beaulieu, her sister Jeanette Benjamin, brothers Raymond, Paul, Albert and Marcel Trahan. Noëlla enjoyed doing anything if it included being with her family, such as blueberry picking, Bingo, bowling and especially playing cards.

Her Funeral Mass will be held at St. Rose of Lima Church, 282 Vaughan Hill Rd., Rochester on Monday, November 19, 2018 at 10:00 am. Visiting Hours were held Sunday, November 18 at Rock Funeral Home, 1285 Ashley Blvd., New Bedford. Burial in Sacred Heart Cemetery, New Bedford. For online tributes please visit: www.rock-funeralhome.com

Friends of Mattapoisett COA Christmas Store

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Friends of Mattapoisett COA Christmas Store on 21 Barstow Street will be open on November 26, 27, and 28 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm and on November 29from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm and on Friday, November 30from 9:30 am to 11:30 am. We have gifts of T-shirts, sweatshirts, jewelry, umbrellas, and more to sell. All are welcome.

Re-Join the Club

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The offer was just too good for any minor under the age of 18 to refuse. Twelve CDs for just one penny! Then, every subsequent month, they send you one CD and, if you don’t like it, simply return it and they’ll refund your money? That seemed like a perfectly manageable membership to a seemingly benign club – until they kept sending CDs every other week and I had to ask my mom to help me cancel the membership and she got all angry at me because I was responsible for the return shipping and, having no money, Mom had to pay for it, cancel the membership for me, and there I was left having to wash dishes, empty trash barrels, and fold underwear and match socks from the laundry loads of whites for six weeks. “Let that be a lesson for you!”

Live and learn, they say. And most of the time I like thinking I’ve learned from past mistakes, only to twenty years later write out a check for $1 to receive ten posters of my choice and then receive one poster each month after which, if I didn’t like it, could ship back (at no charge this time) and the membership could be cancelled at any time. Sounded great until another poster arrived right away, followed by another, and soon I’m being billed $90 for five posters they sent me in that first month alone.

Nice job renewing your membership to the “too good to be true” club.

Just recently I renewed my membership to a different club that no woman ever wants to enter. Yet, for many of us at one point, the temptation is simply too great and we forge ahead trying our hand at do-it-yourself haircutting.

I have not only once, or twice, but thrice renewed my membership to the “I-cut-my-bangs-too-short” club. After I did so the first two times, I proclaimed, and I quote, “I will never try to cut my own bangs again.” Time passes, the hair grows back, and then one day once again I find myself with the same haircut I’ve had most of my life – a shoulder-length wavy bob that is for the most part all one length. And for the same reason that many people get a new tattoo or some body part pierced or an outrageous unnatural Easter egg hair color – boredom and perhaps a dollop of disquietude mid-life – I went for it.

It started when I approached the mirror with a front section of hair carved out above my face. I folded the hair over itself and asked my partner if he thought it would look cool if I cut my bangs “like this.” Sure, he said, likely assuming the question was hypothetical in nature because I probably wouldn’t go through with it. And, honestly, I wasn’t sure that I would. It wasn’t like I had forgotten the last time I cut my own bangs, an act that spawned a series of additional corrective self cuts to straighten them, thicken them, thin them, and re-straighten them again, all over the course of the ensuing month.

“You should just put the scissors down,” I kept thinking.

But just like the second time years ago when I stood there with that same section of hair slated for the scissors, I was possessed by an impulse I imagine as some oxymoronic state of brash hesitation and overconfident uncertainty. I held the hair to the scissors for some time with no sudden movements. But then, with a blink and a wince, I started snipping. The hair fell to the sink in a permanent state of detachment from my head.

“Whoa, wow!” said my partner, looking astonished. “It’s cool, right?” I asked, a little embarrassed, trying to sound casual while inwardly mortified at what I had done. “Yeah. It’s shocking. But I like it.”

At first I think liked it, but the next day I wished I could just wash it and somehow it would return to the state it was in before I cut it just a smidgeon too short.

I settled into the bangs, but with some of my friends it has become an ongoing joke, almost like the bangs had a life of their own. “How are the bangs?” one friend asks me every time we text or speak. “Two more weeks and they’ll be perfect,” I’d retort sounding confident. Yet on days when I hadn’t washed my hair – bangs up and puffy from sleeping side to side all night long – it was hard to believe what I was telling myself and others: “They’ll be perfect in just a couple weeks.”

I’ve vacillated between liking them and regretting them. Some days I am simply too busy to care either way, but when I see that friend on, perhaps, a third day of not washing my hair, my bangs as puffy as Betty Paige’s after a long hard day at the office, the joke subsists. Last weekend was the first time he referred to them as the “unfortunate bangs,” which had me both laughing hysterically in agreement while lamenting that lesson unlearned from years ago. But still, even today, after having said all that, I again took the scissors to my own hair to add in some layers to the side to soften the blunt edge of my unfortunate bangs.

Sigh … We live our imperfect lives and learn. Or, apparently, not! But to my relief, this time I managed to not completely wreck myself and avoided the addition of “unfortunate layers” to exacerbate the ongoing bangs joke.

If you do ever find yourself a member in this unfortunate club, just remember that the membership will expire “in just a couple more weeks,” too. But if you’re standing in front of that mirror with that front section of hair in your hand, put the scissors down now lest you be the next victim of a series of unfortunate bangs jokes.

This Imperfect Life

By Jean Perry

Trustees Look to VFW Site for Affordable Housing

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It’s now the home to the Benjamin D. Cushing Community Center, but the Marion Affordable Housing trust thinks the 6.48-acre property that was once the old VFW might be a feasible location for some affordable housing. On November 13, the trustees inched closer to exploring this option.

Administrator Terri Santos summarized her recent search efforts into sources of funding for a possible affordable housing development, including the Department of Housing and Community Development that oversees funding and resources to help towns establish affordable housing, Chairman Casey Cole-Vieira explained.

“They suggested that we need to decide what type of housing, maybe, we’d like to see on the lot,” said Cole-Vieira.

Santos added that the United States Department of Agriculture also provides funding; however, “It tends to frown on going with age-restricted. It’s not that it can’t be done,” she continued, since the USDA did provide some funding to establish Marconi Village.

“I spoke with Mass Housing Partnership and they will help us with the feasibility study and technical assistance if we do not do age-restricted at all,” said Santos.

Trustee and Selectman Norm Hills added, however, “That takes away the reason for having it there, as it’s right near the Council on Aging.”

“Mass Housing Partnership won’t help us,” said Santos. “They already told us that several times, so we’ll have to find other sources.”

Some steps have already been taken towards a feasibility study, including an environmental assessment and a land survey. Next, the trustees will approach the Board of Selectmen and possibly seek funding from either the Community Preservation Committee or Town Meeting. Hills suggested the trustees discuss what they would like to develop, such as the types of units and how many, and come up with a concept to work towards before going before the selectmen.

The trustees agreed that they would be most interested in a mix of elderly and affordable housing.

“And we need to know how much you need,” said Hills. “You need a number and you need to be able to justify it.”

Marion is currently at 8 percent affordable housing, and the state requirement is 10 percent.

The next meeting of the Marion Affordable Housing Trust is scheduled for December 10 at 6:00 pm at the Marion Police Station.

Marion Affordable Housing Trust

By Jean Perry

New Programs and Classes at the MAC

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The Marion Art Center (MAC) is pleased to present the Putnam Murdock Trio on Saturday, December 22 at 7:30pm. Putnam Murdock (guitar and vocals), Barry Gross (bass and vocals), and Colin Bradley (pedal steel) have been conducting experiments in sonic allure for three years. Creating soundscapes laced with lyric and story, they provide audiences with a unique experience of witnessing the creative process. Armed with relentless listening, these musicians improvise structure and arrangement to match the mood of the room. With music that is sensitive, powerful, dusty, and patient, this will take you on a journey of genuine Americana music.

Join us as we wrap up the 2018 season. Doors open at 7:00 pm. Tickets available in person, by phone, or online at marionartcenter.org. $18 for MAC Members – $20 for Non-Members

Winter classes are starting soon. The MAC is offering the following Art and Music classes:

Beginning and Continuing Watercolor Painting – Thursdays, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm | 8 sessions, November 29-January 24 (No class Dec. 27)

Continuing & Advanced Watercolor Painting – Fridays, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm – 8 week session, November 30-January 18

New Painting Expressive Landscapes with Acrylics – Saturdays, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm – 8 sessions, December 1 – January 24 (No class Dec. 29)

New Winter Songwriting Series – Ages 10-17 Saturdays, 10:00 am to 11:00 am at the MAC | January 19 – March 2

New Private Piano Lessons at the MAC – Beginner and Intermediate-level | Ages 6 through Adult – Sunday afternoons beginning January 13, 2019 – Scheduling determined on an individual basis

Spring Registration is now available for MAC Dance Academy.

For more information, visit us online at www.marionartcenter.org/classes.

Register in person at the MAC, over the phone, or online. Regular hours are Tue-Fri 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm, Sat 10:00 am – 2:00 pm.

Upper Cape Tech Craft Fair

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Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School will hold their 24th annual American Made Professional Arts and Craft Fair on Saturday, November 17and Sunday, November 18from 10:00 am to 3:30 pm each day. The Craft Fair is sponsored by Upper Cape Tech’s Parent Teacher Organization, which funds student activities, scholarships, and other school events. For additional information, please call 508-759-7711, ext. 117.

Holiday Luncheon and Cookie Walk

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Stop by The First Congregational Church of Marion Community Center, 144 Front Street, on Saturday, December 8, from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm for the 28th Annual Holiday Luncheon. Enjoy a delicious lunch stop while on the Sippican Woman’s Club Holiday House Tour, or just come by for a welcome break from the holiday rush. You could even win a door prize.

The luncheon features our famous hot chicken salad, along with cranberry compote, assorted homemade breads, beverages, plus cheesecake with topping for dessert. The cost of the luncheon is $10. Advance tickets may be purchased at the church office located on the first floor of the Community Center. Tickets will also be available at the door.

Returning this year is the popular Cookie Walk, which will be held at the same time as the luncheon. Some of the best bakers of the church will be busy making their signature cookies for this sale.

Your first step on the Cookie Walk will be to pick up a beautifully decorated cookie box. Next, you get to fill your box with a dozen of your favorite (or new favorite) cookies from the wonderful assortment offered. The boxes are then artfully tied up in baker’s twine. The cost of each box of cookies is $10. These cookie boxes make a perfect hostess gift or a special treat when company pops in.

The Holiday Luncheon and Cookie Walk will be held on the second floor of The First Congregational Church Community Center, 144 Front Street, Marion, MA. Note: No wheelchair access. This building is located at the rear of the Marion General Store parking lot. Please park at the back right of the lot, or there is additional parking at Island Wharf.

Children’s Programs and Events at the MPL

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Breton the Reading Pup – Would your child enjoy reading to our library reading pup, Breton? He is trained to listen patiently while his handler Lenore Everett sits nearby. Sign up for a 15-minute session on a Tuesday afternoon between 3:15 pm and 4:15 pm.  The next dates Breton will be at the library are November 27and December 11. Call the Children’s Department to sign up at 508-758-4171.

Stroll into the Library during the Annual Mattapoisett Holiday Happening. The Mattapoisett Library is joining the entire community in celebrating the holidays on Saturday, December 8. While the adults enjoy an Open House upstairs, children are invited to make two holiday crafts in the Children’s Department beginning at 11 am. Make the library a stop on your village stroll.

Make a Candy Lighthouse – An Annual Event – Children are welcome to come in and make a candy lighthouse on Wednesday, December 12from 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm. All ages are welcome. Children under 5 years old need to bring an adult to help them. Please sign up in the Children’s Department.

Enjoy Dancing to The Nutcracker – Children ages 4 to 8 are invited to “Inside the Pages of The Nutcracker” with music/dancer educator Kay Alden on Friday, December 14from 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm. Enjoy bringing the characters off the page with music, dance, movement, and discussion. Register in the Children’s Room.

Holiday Storytime with Grandparents – Children of all ages are invited to bring their grandparents to a special storytime on Wednesday, December 19at 10:30 am. Enjoy stories together and make holiday cards. Parents are welcome too!

1,000 Books Before Kindergarten – If you read just 4 books a week to your baby, you will have read 1,000 books together in 5 years! The benefits from reading to your baby, toddler, and young child cannot be overstated. Help encourage a lifelong love of reading and prepare them for school success. Children from birth through kindergarten can be registered in the Children’s Department and receive a free book bag, reading logs, and can earn gift incentives for every 100 books read. Ask the library staff for more information about this wonderful new program.

Board Recommends All Proposed Zoning Articles

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Ahead of the November 19 Fall Special Town Meeting, The Rochester Planning Board held a series of public hearings for seven bylaw articles slated for the warrant.

Two of these articles pertain to the legislative requirements of the Green Communities Act, a state designation the Town hopes to achieve.

The first option is an article proposing a “Ground-Mounted Solar Photovoltaic Installation” overlay district for the town’s capped landfill where a solar field would be allowed “as of right” without the need of a special permit. Only a site plan review would be required.

The solar bylaw would still apply to the project pertaining to aspects such as screening and drainage, but as Planning Board Chairman Arnie Johnson stated, “But doesn’t limit the effect of the solar bylaw.”

Furthermore, Johnson emphasized, “We’re not advocating any project to go there. There’s no project currently slated to go there; it’s just simply a check-off on legislation that we need to do for the state for the Green Communities thing.”

“If you were going to pick a part of Rochester where you could say you could put solar … that would be the only place,” commented Town Counsel Blair Bailey.

As it did with all the proposed articles, the board voted to recommend adoption by Town Meeting.

Next, as an alternative to the solar overlay district, the subsequent article would allocate the Limited Industrial Zone as an overlay district for “Renewable or Alternative Energy Research and Development Facilities and/or Manufacturing Facilities.”

“We could do an either/or,” said Johnson. Solar, as the prior article allows, “or we could create manufacturing or research and development.

“We decided to do all three just in case the solar didn’t pass at Town Meeting,” Johnson stated.

The bylaw would specify the types of renewable energy research allowed in the overlay district, and the board chose to prohibit wind energy from the bylaw.

“That’s something that we didn’t want to have –” said Johnson, “a windmill sticking up there in the Industrial Zone.”

The remaining five articles came as a result of concerns brought by residents to the bylaw subcommittee:

One article would re-number the general heading of the zoning bylaw, combining all overlay districts into one heading, as Johnson explained it. The article would organize each overlay district that is currently scattered throughout the bylaw.

Another article addressed some amendments suggested by the zoning bylaw subcommittee some time ago, but were not deemed priorities at the time. The article would consolidate into one section the amount of acreage required for two-, three-, and other multi-family houses – their different lot requirements such as sizes and setbacks – and puts them all together in one “more user-friendly” format, as Johnson put it. In most cases, applicants would not have to go before the Zoning Board of Appeals for approval, needing only a variance for certain other criteria.

The next article addresses the multiple smaller accessory structures on agricultural land, giving more specific details on what is allowed and what would require zoning approval, while another article addresses temporary storage units that would be allowed in front yard areas.

One final article that addresses some bylaw “housekeeping” to add a section that Johnson described as “a general philosophy” and “guiding principle” of the bylaw as it pertains to residential growth and the town’s status as a Right to Farm community.

All the articles were received with a unanimous positive vote to recommend at the November 16 Fall Special Town Meeting to take place at Rochester Memorial School at 7:00 pm.

In other business, the board granted an Approval Not Required application for Logan Smith for three lots at 69 Ryder Road. The plan includes a paved apron and road improvements to Old Middleboro Road, as well as a catch basin for stormwater.

In response to a request from Connet Woods, the board allowed an extension for road paving until December 15.

The board also voted not to recommend the Board of Selectmen exercise its right of first refusal for the sale of 440 Snipatuit Road.

The next meeting of the Rochester Planning Board is scheduled for December 11 at 7:00 pm at the Rochester Town Hall.

Rochester Planning Board

By Jean Perry

Old Rochester’s Winter Farmers’ Market

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Come join us for the first of this years Old Rochester’s Winter Farmers’ Market. The Market will run the 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm at the Old Rochester Regional’s Junior High School Gymnasium. The market this year will have seasonal produce, fresh-non-gmo/grass-fed meats, fresh cheeses, local honey, sweet and savory pies, breads, syrup, chocolates and fudge, cranberries, prepared foods, teas, warm alpaca items, soaps, oils artisan crafts, and much more. Story time brought to us by Elizabeth Taber Library and Live Entertainment. Shop local and fresh.