Pizza with Santa

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Pizza with Santa will be held on Sunday, December 2, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm at the Benjamin D. Cushing Community Center, 465 Mill Street, Marion. The event is compliments of the Marion Police Brotherhood. Once again, we will be accepting donations to help “fill a cruiser” with new unwrapped toys for The Justice Resources Institute, a local non-profit organization providing intensive foster care and adoption programs for children and adolescents in our community.

Please register at the Marion Police Department, 550 Mill Street or email adicarlo@marionma.gov or acrosby@marionma.gov.

Sippican Historical Society

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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. Due to 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 46 Spring Street. The Old Stone Studio at 46 Spring Street was built in 1820 and is significant as a rare surviving storage facility associated with the early 19th-century salt industry in Marion. By 1860, it housed Captain Allen’s petroleum oil refinery. However, it is most known as the “Old Stone Studio,” when the building was purchased by Richard Watson Gilder, the editor of Century Magazine, as a studio for his artist wife Helena deKay Gilder. In the 1880s and 1890s, the Gilders hosted a salon within this building, which attracted well-known writers, artists, actors, architects, musicians, politicians, sculptors, and philanthropists. The roster of persons in attendance at the Gilders’ theatrical performances, poetry readings, and musical performances included many celebrities, including Stanford White, who designed the Old Stone Studio’s chimney addition in 1883.

Trahan Named Athletic Director of the Year

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With the Old Colony athletic department’s consistent success in every season in both girls and boys sports, it only makes sense for the Cougars to receive recognition in addition to their 13 combined titles between the Mayflower Athletic Conference Small Division and the Vocational State tournaments, which is why Old Colony was awarded the 2017-2018 Division II Walter J. Markham Award.

One large and one small vocational school receives the honor each year for having the best win-loss record among all vocational schools in the state.

The Cougars finished 121-83-3 (58.61 winning percentage) after dominating the fall (46-15-3), winter (25-12), and spring (50-22) seasons.

This is the first Markham Award for the Cougars in the award’s 21-year existence.

But that wasn’t enough. The MIAA and Massachusetts Secondary Schools Athletic Directors Association (MSSADA) also took the liberty of acknowledging Old Colony Athletic Director Matt Trahan as the state’s best AD.

“Honestly, it was surreal,” Trahan said about hearing the news of his award. “There are a lot of really good athletic directors in the state. You do the job — and I enjoy the job; I love what I do — but it’s not one of those jobs where you’re looking for credit. You do it because it’s good for the kids; it’s good for the school. At the end of the day, it kind of blew me away that here I am, and you reflect on the last 15 years and think about all the things. It’s incredible when you feel the appreciation because I respect my peers. For them to vote for me is kind of overwhelming.”

While he’s taken a moment or two to appreciate the honor and recognition, Trahan isn’t dwelling on it too much. He sees this as yet another way to display why Old Colony is developing well-rounded individuals – both on the field and in the classroom.

“I always want to shine the light on what we’re doing at the school because I think sometimes it goes unnoticed,” Trahan said. “It’s a small vocational school in Rochester, but it’s got so many things that I think kids will love, and the kids there do love. It truly is a hidden gem. There are so many people invested in the future. It’s a great place to work.”

As much as Trahan is quick to acknowledge his co-workers and student athletes as being a part of why he was given the award by the MIAA and MSSADA, he also knows this doesn’t happen without his support system. Because without a strong foundation at home, Trahan wouldn’t be able to do what he does best: help develop young student-athletes into young adults.

“I really want to give credit to my wife, Katie, and my kids,” Trahan said. “The total ongoing support from her, she never waivers in anything going on with the school. She knows I take my job seriously. She is amazing.”

Old Rochester Regional

After coming within 10 points of being the Division 6 South Sectional champions, there was no way that No. 1 Old Rochester Regional football was giving No. 2 Ashland a shot at walking away victorious, and the Bulldogs won the game 28-6.

Desmond Diaswas the driving force behind the offense, scoring three touchdowns in the win. Cole McIntyrefound Tyler Noefor a 39-yard score, rounding out ORR’s scoring against Ashland.

Had the Bulldogs won in 2017, they would have played the champions from the North, with the Central team receiving a bye because the West doesn’t have a Division 6 representative. However, this year the Bulldogs lucked out because it’s the South’s turn to have a bye in Division 6. As a result, ORR is guaranteed a spot in the Division 6 State Tournament Championship game where the Bulldogs will play the winner of the Stoneham (10-0) and Littleton (9-3) game at Gillette Stadium after Thanksgiving. Stoneham also represented the North in 2017, losing to Middleboro, who also beat ORR in the South Sectional Finals. Littleton was there, as well, and lost to Middleboro in the State Final.

High School Sports Update

By Nick Friar

FinCom to Recommend All Finance Articles on Warrant

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There will be 20 articles on the November 26 Fall Special Town Meeting Warrant, 17 of them involving matters of finance, and all 17 of them got the OK from the Mattapoisett Finance Committee on November 12.

The Town Hall might have been closed for the holiday, but the FinCom was inside scouring the warrant and hearing one final time from Harbormaster Jill Simmons on three waterfront-related articles, including one for a pumpout boat that would be partially funded by the state.

“Now that we’ve been advised by the Mattapoisett Boat Yard that they will not be continuing to operate the program next year,” Simmons reiterated, “The [Clean Vessel Act] said they would be providing the municipality with a boat and they would give us $56,000 towards the boat. The balance would be the responsibility of the town.”

The 23-foot pumpout boat is priced at $99,560, with the town contributing $43,310 with funds from the harbormaster’s fiscal year 2019 budget approved back in May at the Annual Town Meeting. The Board of Selectmen is co-sponsoring Article 16 with the harbormaster.

Also sponsored by the selectmen is Article 12, $40,000 for offseason repairs, improvements, renovations, and restoration work at the town wharf, including piling replacements, new bumpers, and an off anchoring system, said Simmons, which will allow boats to be anchored to pilings “and not hitting hard,” as Simmons put it.

Before Simmons left, the committee briefly discussed Article 13 to appropriate $155,965 to supplement various town department budgets, including $6,000 to the harbormaster’s FY19 budget

“The reason that I owe Jill that money is that the previous year the number of hours she worked,” said Town Administrator Michael Gagne, who thought that Simmons’ compensation was capped at 960 hours; however, that maximum was incorrect, so Simmons will be compensated for all the hours she worked.

The Finance Committee discussed the remaining articles once Simmons was excused, starting with Article 3 for $400,000 to fund various stabilization funds: $50,000 for the Special Education Reserve, $100,000 for Debt Service Stabilization, $100,000 for Long-term Stabilization, and $150,000 for Capital Improvements Stabilization.

Finance Committee Chairman Pat Donoghue took issue with the Special Education Reserve, saying the School Department was supposed to return the balance of the money taken from the account, not the Town.

“When [the school department] talked us into that,” said Donoghue, “they got a bump up in the budget for that year, which is permanent. But they agreed that they would … replace that fund up to the $290,000.”

They have been, Gagne told her. “It’s been coming up slowly,” Gagne said, with $70,000 transferred last year and another $40,000 this year. “They have been returning money at the end of each year,” Gagne continued. “They’re getting there. It’s probably going to take three years.”

Article 4 appropriates $10,000 in surplus revenue to hire a consultant to review the Town’s zoning bylaws, an action Gagne said was long overdue.

Article 5, although not formally recommended that night, will likely receive FinCom recommendation on Town Meeting floor for $950,000 to fund the replacement of a water main across to Pease’s Point. The reason for holding off the recommendation, Gagne said, was because the final bid would not be available until just before Town Meeting. Roughly $498,000 will be reimbursed by a grant, while the Town would borrow the remainder.

Article 6 will establish a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreement with the developers of the Tinkham II solar project on Tinkham Hill Road. Gagne said that, according to Principal Assessor Kathleen Costello, the agreement would be for approximately $60,000 a year.

Article 7 was recommended with minimal discussion for appropriating $80,174 for bond payments – $7,643 from Water Retained earnings for the water department, $67,506 from Sewer retained earnings for the sewer department, and $5,025 from the tax levy for excluded debt related to the Town Road Phase VIII Project.

Article 8 is for $225,000 to replace a 2006 ambulance, with $100,000 coming directly from ambulance service receipts, and $125,000 coming from a loan.

“[Police Chief] Mary Lyons came to see about an ambulance and explained the situation of the ambulance, being its age and the amount of time it’s been down and the costs incurred for mutual aid,” said Gagne. “I talked with the Board of Selectmen about it,” he continued, with the board supporting the purchase and the short-term loan to fund it. That debt would be repaid using ambulance receipts money.

Article 9 would appropriate $135,000 from past police department article balances to fund a police radio communications upgrade with the towns of Fairhaven and Acushnet. According to Gagne, the project will cost more than the three towns had expected, “So rather than under-fund the project and we end up delaying it,” Gagne said, he recommended increasing the amount. Fairhaven is contributing $200,000 while Acushnet contributes $139,000.

Article 10 would appropriate $155,000 towards the engineering, design, and plans for an $8 million Industrial Drive rehabilitation and expansion project, for which Gagne, the selectmen, and the FinCom have expressed enthusiasm.

“We are hoping that within the next month we will hear on the federal DOT grant that we applied for … a total of $8 million,” said Gagne. “You get a little nervous sometimes when you get one basket of eggs that you’re getting the money from,” he continued; however, if the Town does not receive the full amount it requested, Gagne said other work grants and public works economic development grants could fund the project.

“This article is basis for whatever grants we do receive,” Gagne stated. The selectmen unanimously recommended the article, he added, saying the project would improve the intersection with North Street, provide a safe pedestrian crossing for park-and-ride users, and completely redevelop Industrial Drive and add sewer connections.

“It’s a good opportunity,” said Gagne. “I think it’s improvement planning and I think we can benefit from it.”

Article 11 funds a list of capital improvement items, most of which have already been approved by the Capital Planning Committee, but were prioritized differently on the list for a past Town Meeting. Totaling $128,500, $15,000 would fund a fire department outboard motor replacement; $7,500 fire truck lighting upgrades; $16,000 for facility improvements at the Council on Aging; $35,000 for bike path safety crossing lights; $20,000 to pave the church parking lot on Barstow Street (which would include a written agreement with the church allowing Town use of the lot); and $35,000 for Town-owned building repairs.

Article 14 is for $11,699.66 for a prior fiscal year bill for solid waste disposal. That bill, Gagne said, came after the books had closed.

Article 15 is for $22,000 requested by the Board of Health as part of the training of the next health agent, Kate Tapper, expected to replace Dale Barrows when he soon retires. The money would fund compensation for Tapper while she works alongside Barrows learning the position.

Article 17 pertains to developing the landfill for solar energy production. The $30,000 would fund the design, engineering, and bidding work. Gagne said two national solar companies have expressed interest in the site, adding, “I think it would be well worth our while.” The site is extensive, he said, and could provide up to 6 or 7 megawatts of energy. “The tax revenue could be significant from that, and the PILOT could be significant.”

Article 18 would appropriate $45,000 towards what Gagne deemed “a serious endeavor to remedy at least some of the worst defects in existing sidewalks that may not be reached in planned road projects.” These defects, he said, are trip hazards, and also include stormwater drainage problems.

Article 19 for $65,000 for the costs associated with employees retiring this fiscal year.

Article 20 is something Gagne called a “safety net” article. A grant for $88,426 should fund the installation of an emergency generator at the Mattapoisett Housing Authority Complex, but the article would allow the Town to get an advance on the grant through short-term borrowing should the state be slow in issuing the Town the money.

Article 21 was removed from the warrant, which was a request from the Highway Department for a sidewalk plow. The selectmen, however, would not recommend such an article until an inventory of the sidewalks the machine would be able to plow was completed. The Town, in the future, might consider a bylaw that would require all property owners to shovel the sidewalks abutting their properties.

There are no further Mattapoisett Finance Committee meetings planned ahead of the November 26 Special Town Meeting, which will take place in the ORR High School auditorium at 6:30 pm.

Mattapoisett Finance Committee

By Jean Perry

Special Thanksgiving Service

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All are invited to join us for a simple, joyful celebration of Thanksgiving on Tuesday,November 20at 7:00 pm at The First Congregational Church of Marion, located at 28 Main Street (on the corner of Front Street). Partnering with St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church, this is a special service to bring our communities together and to give thanks for all of God’s blessings.

We ask that you please bring a non-perishable food item as an offering to local food banks. The First Congregational Church of Marion is handicap-accessible, and everyone is welcome. Parking is available at 144 Main Street, in the General Store parking lot.

Rochester Women’s Club News

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The Rochester Women’s Club will not be making their absolutely delicious Thanksgiving pies this year. The bakers are tired. We are hoping folks will support another local non profit organization. We will be selling our beautiful Holiday wreaths. They will be on sale shortly after Thanksgiving at the club house in Rochester. Our profits from the sale of our wreaths go to our scholarship fund. Any questions can be addressed by calling Marsha at 508-322-0998.

Margaret V. (Logovich) Brown

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Margaret V. (Logovich) Brown, 95, of Rochester, died November 10, 2018 in the Life Care Center of West Bridgewater. She was the daughter of the late Samuel and Victoria (Lach) Logovich.

She was born in Boston and lived in Syracuse, NY for many years, she then lived in Manomet for 12 years before moving to Rochester 7 years ago. She graduated from Jamaica Plain High School.

Mrs. Brown worked as an Inspector for Foxboro Company in East Bridgewater for many years before retiring.

She enjoyed reading, traveling and shopping. She was a life-long Red Sox fan who enjoyed going to PawSox games.

Survivors include 2 sons, Richard W. “Rick” Brown of Rochester and Robert “Bob” Brown of Baldwinsville, NY; a daughter, Barbara Morss of Marion; 4 grandchildren; 5 great grandchildren.

Her services will be private. Arrangements are by the Chapman, Cole & Gleason Funeral Home, 2599 Cranberry Hwy., Wareham.

Eleanor Clark Lopes

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Eleanor Clark Lopes passed away on November 8, 2018. Our mother’s fondest memories, while living at her gramma Clarks house in Fairhaven, were with her sister and best friend Theresa. It was there by the ocean that they enjoyed going for rides in their father’s row boat over to the Pine Pavilion to have a soda. She enjoyed helping gramma feed her chickens and listening to Dutchy Packard playing his banjo on the back porch.

Later in life she became a mother to Judy and Peter. Some of her best times where spent living down Sconticut Neck quahogging, this became her life long hobby which she enjoyed well into her 86 year. Mum liked nothing better than sitting on a rock after quahogging, cracking them open, eating her quahogs and occasionally pocketing a few cherry stones. Later in life she became a wife to Joe and mom again to Lisa which started a new chapter. Through the years mum worked at stitching mills in the city but her favorite job was working in Lanzonis Greenhouse, which she enjoyed for many years.

She had a green thumb for gardening and loved flowers. She tended her own gardens all her life and had strong opinions on what colors to plant! Summer trips to the Vineyard on the ferry through the years were some of her best times. Being a mother, was by far her greatest joy.

For the last 5 years Lisa was her caretaker and sidekick along with help from her grandson Robbie. Her nephew Richard always put a smile on her face with his wild antics too. Our mother had an enthusiasm for hot coffee and car rides that can only be described as epic. Mum touched many lives through the years, she always had a way of showing compassion and kindness. She also faced many challenges in her life and handled them with dignity and grace. She is and will always be our hero! Our mother will finally be with her son Peter, her husband Joseph A. Lopes, nephews, nieces and her mother and father. She leaves behind her daughters Judy and Lisa, her step-daughter Sharon and sister Theresa, brothers Ronnie and Mike, grandchildren Robbie, Nate, Sarah and Dante, great grandchildren McCayla and Abel, also son in law Army Veteran Bob Dupont. We would like to personally thank Peter’s friend Raymond who since Peters passing, has sent her a card for her birthday and every holiday for the last 35 years. We would also like to thank her sister in law Joan for all her delicious meals she surprised mum with, one being her favorite, lobster rolls. Our family would also like to thank Dr. Amy Weigandt, Tobey Hospital, doctors, nurses and kindhearted patient observers. Charlton Memorial Hospital, doctors and nurses for their compassionate care of mum. Thank you also to A.R.A.W. And all the staff at the Fairhaven Senior Center and friends at the Social Day Program.

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Edwin B. Comstock

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Edwin B. Comstock, 66, of Mattapoisett passed away Friday November 9, 2018.

Born in New Bedford, he lived in Mattapoisett all of his life. He was a graduate of Old Rochester Regional High School.

Teddy was formerly employed by Natco Corporation in New Bedford.

He loved participating in and watching sports and was an avid sports memorabilia collector.

He is survived by his mother, Edna (Meehan) Harrison of Mattapoisett; his sister, Jill Law and her husband Fred of Dartmouth; his half-sister, Karen Vital and her husband Scott of Dartmouth and five nieces.

He was predeceased by his father Edwin B. Comstock and his stepfather Joseph Harrison.

His Memorial Service will be held on Saturday November 17, 2018 at 10 am at the Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home for Funerals, 50 County Rd., Route 6, Mattapoisett. Burial will follow in Cushing Cemetery. For directions and guestbook, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.

Mattapoisett Remembers Florence Eastman

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One hundred years after the end of the war that the world once hoped would be the last, American Legion Post 280 Commander Michael Lamoureux invoked the name of the young woman – the only young woman from Mattapoisett to volunteer to serve in World War I, the namesake of the Mattapoisett American Legion post, Florence Eastman.

Eastman, the daughter of the last keeper of the Ned’s Point Lighthouse, was nurse with a post-graduate education at Massachusetts General Hospital. She wanted to go to France “to help the soldiers,“ Lamoureux told those assembled on Monday, November 12, at Old Hammondtown School for Mattapoisett’s Veterans Day observance. But when she grew impatient awaiting the issuance of a passport, Lamoureux said, she went off to Long Island where she assumed the duties of the head Army nurse at the Isolation Hospital.

“Virtually everybody who was there as a patient was dying of influenza,” said Lamoureux.

The Spanish Flu claimed the lives of more U.S. soldiers than war combat as it spread across the Atlantic in 1918 at the height of the pandemic. As Eastman cared for those soldiers suffering from influenza and pneumonia seemingly around the clock, they called her “the angel of the wards,” not knowing how she was able to perform her duties as she never appeared to rest, sleep, or even eat, Lamoureux said.

“All she wanted to do was take care of her boys,” said Lamoureux.

Eastman died at the age of 24, succumbing to influenza.

Lamoureux said that during these past 35 or so years as post commander, he had mistakenly believed that only 29 from Mattapoisett volunteered to serve in World War. There were indeed 68, he said correcting himself.

“Only one of them didn’t come home,” Lamoureux said, and that one was Florence Eastman.

Eastman died at the young age of 24 on October 14, 1918, less than one month before the Armistice. She was buried with full military honors at the Pine Island Cemetery, and in February 1925 Post 280 was dedicated in her name.

“Thank you, Florence,” said Lamoureux before handing the microphone to Chaplain Richard Langhoff, who led a prayer calling for an end to global strife and the beginning of an enduring peace in a world, he said, “where nations resolve their differences with peaceful means.”

Keynote speaker U.S. Army Col. Michael Mendenhall from the U.S. Naval War College lauded the services of the American Legion posts, calling them places where military servicemen and women could share their experiences with someone “who had gone through similar experiences.”

“It’s extremely important that we continue this amazing facet of service with these posts,” said Mendenhall.

Mendenhall, who said that while he was in France he visited the grave of a relative who died in World War I, called the war “a whole new world of warfare.” With the emergence new technologies, soldiers were now fighting under the fire of machine guns, chemical weaponry, and, for the first time ever, airplanes dropped bombs, changing the rules of combat forever.

“World War I was supposed to be the war to end all wars,” said Mendenhall. “It was supposed to solve all the problems of the day, and it didn’t.”

Reviewing some of the history, Mendenhall pointed out to an unaware audience that Massachusetts was the only one of the contiguous U.S. states where WWI combat reached dry land during what is known as the July 21, 1918 Attack on Orleans. According to Mendenhall, a German U-boat surfaced three miles off the coast of Cape Cod and four shots were fired at a tugboat pulling four barges causing damage to the tugboat and sinking the four barges, and several shells were fired at the town, striking the beach.

Lamoureux called Mendenhall “a soldier’s soldier,” and hailed him as a forever hero.

The Old Hammondtown Band and Chorus provided musical entertainment with patriotic songs, joined by Jillian Zucco who sang the National Anthem, and the Showstoppers who performed two of their own songs. Selectman Tyler Macallister also addressed the audience, while Representative William Straus’ absence surprised Lamoureux, who said this was likely only the second time in about 25 years that Straus was unable to attend.

By Jean Perry