Bring your gifts to the Elizabeth Taber Library on Fridays in December (December 8, 15, and 22) between 1:00 – 4:00 pm and we’ll wrap them for you. All materials will be provided. Small donations are appreciated so that we may keep up this wonderful service to the community.
Mattapoisett Troop 53 Boy Scouts will be selling wreaths on Saturday, December 9 at the Mattapoisett Town Hall. Plain or decorated wreaths are available. Please support your local troop.
Joan Caroline (Henry) Walsh, at the age of 94, December 5, 2017 at her home in Mattapoisett, MA, surrounded by all her children: Devoted wife of the late Edward J. Walsh for 65 years, They met at Columbia University’s US Navy Midshipman School and waited to marry until Lieutenant Walsh returned from combat duty as Executive Officer of USS Cockrell in the North Atlantic and South Pacific. Married at St. Barnabas Church in 1946, the couple moved to the Boston area where they raised their family:of four sons and a daughter. Mother of Edward, Jr. and his wife Christine of Cocoa Beach, FL; M. Jane and her husband John McEvoy of Belmont; Philip and his wife Maureen Roberts of Sutton; John and his wife Maura of Southborough; and Thomas of Mattapoisett. Grandmother of 12: Edward III of Duxbury, Dr. Erin Leonard of New Jersey, Megan Walsh-Shaoul and Courtney Jagannath of New York, Matthew McEvoy of Sudbury, Michael McEvoy of Boston, Elizabeth McEvoy of Natick, Katherine Giles of Westford, Patrick of Sutton, Joseph, James and Matthew of Southborough.Great Grandmother of 16: Bridget, James, Jack, Declan, Molly, Ryan, Annie, Stella, Piper, Henry, Mayer, Luna, Goldie, Mila, Ellie and Eva. Sister of Ann Mahony and Judith Keegan of Connecticut and of the late Mary Elizabeth Kramer of New York. Born in New York City, the daughter of the late Harold J. and Katherine A. (Rooney) Henry, she was a graduate of The Academy of Mt. St. Ursula and The Berkeley Llewelyn School of Manhattan and worked for Time Magazine, editing for publication letters to the editor and worked at Young and Rubicam, the Madison Avenue advertising firm. After her marriage at the end of World War II, she dedicated herself to family, friends and community. A long time resident of Natick and Wellesley, where she was on the board of directors of the Wellesley Hills Garden Club, and was active in St. James The Great parish for the half century before it was closed by the Archdiocese, the Cub Scouts, PTA and was a volunteer at Newton Wellesley Hospital. She and her husband retired to a life of sailing from their Mattapoisett home, visiting ports across the South and Bahamas every winter and New England in the summer. In lieu of flowers, please contribute to Sr. Barbara Walsh, SUSC, O.P.E.N. ESOL Program, 60 Liberty St., New Bedford, MA, 02740. Joan Caroline (Henry) Walsh, at the age of 94, December 5, 2017 at her home in Mattapoisett, MA, surrounded by all her children: Devoted wife of the late Edward J. Walsh for 65 years, They met at Columbia University’s US Navy Midshipman School and waited to marry until Lieutenant Walsh returned from combat duty as Executive Officer of USS Cockrell in the North Atlantic and South Pacific. Married at St. Barnabas Church in 1946, the couple moved to the Boston area where they raised their family:of four sons and a daughter. Mother of Edward, Jr. and his wife Christine of Cocoa Beach, FL; M. Jane and her husband John McEvoy of Belmont; Philip and his wife Maureen Roberts of Sutton; John and his wife Maura of Southborough; and Thomas of Mattapoisett. Grandmother of 12: Edward III of Duxbury, Dr. Erin Leonard of New Jersey, Megan Walsh-Shaoul and Courtney Jagannath of New York, Matthew McEvoy of Sudbury, Michael McEvoy of Boston, Elizabeth McEvoy of Natick, Katherine Giles of Westford, Patrick of Sutton, Joseph, James and Matthew of Southborough.Great Grandmother of 16: Bridget, James, Jack, Declan, Molly, Ryan, Annie, Stella, Piper, Henry, Mayer, Luna, Goldie, Mila, Ellie and Eva. Sister of Ann Mahony and Judith Keegan of Connecticut and of the late Mary Elizabeth Kramer of New York. Born in New York City, the daughter of the late Harold J. and Katherine A. (Rooney) Henry, she was a graduate of The Academy of Mt. St. Ursula and The Berkeley Llewelyn School of Manhattan and worked for Time Magazine, editing for publication letters to the editor and worked at Young and Rubicam, the Madison Avenue advertising firm. After her marriage at the end of World War II, she dedicated herself to family, friends and community. A long time resident of Natick and Wellesley, where she was on the board of directors of the Wellesley Hills Garden Club, and was active in St. James The Great parish for the half century before it was closed by the Archdiocese, the Cub Scouts, PTA and was a volunteer at Newton Wellesley Hospital. She and her husband retired to a life of sailing from their Mattapoisett home, visiting ports across the South and Bahamas every winter and New England in the summer. In lieu of flowers, please contribute to Sr. Barbara Walsh, SUSC, O.P.E.N. ESOL Program, 60 Liberty St., New Bedford, MA, 02740.
Visiting hours will be held on Saturday, December 9th morning from 9:30 – 10:30 AM in Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home for Funerals, 50 County Rd., Route 6, Mattapoisett followed by her Funeral Mass at 11 AM at St. Anthony’s Church, Mattapoisett. For directions and guestbook, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.
The Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen wishes to extend an invitation to all town residents to attend their Twelfth Annual “Holiday in the Park and Town Holiday Stroll.” The actual Tree Lighting takes place on Saturday, December 9 from 3:00 to 5:00 pm at Shipyard Park.
Please come and bring your families to join in on all the festivities. This event is free of cost thanks to our most generous Town food establishments. Santa and Mrs. Claus and all their friends will be arriving by Fire Engine at dusk along with the lighting of the tree. There will be lots of ornament making and face painting for the children along with a petting zoo.
Stop by the Mattapoisett Library for holiday stories and ornament making from 1:00 to 3:00 pm.
Boy Scout Troop 53 will be selling wreaths with free hot chocolate and hot coffee at Town Hall from 1:00 to 3:00 pm.
Please be sure to stop by the Historical Society for their Holiday Arts and Crafts Fair from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm and visit the Mattapoisett Congregational Church Holiday Fair from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm.
There will be music performances at Shipyard Park by the Old Rochester Regional Junior High School Band. Music and Technical Support by Rick LeBlanc with MC Ken Pacheco.
Please bring an unwrapped new children’s gift and/or a nonperishable food item/canned good to the table under the tent – sponsored by the Mattapoisett Lion’s Club.
Restrooms open to the public at the Library and Mattapoisett Town Hall.
“Happy holidays to all” and we hope to see you on December 9.
Everyone is invited to join the Friends of the Mattapoisett Council on Aging, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The FMCoA serves as the fundraising arm of the Council on Aging. You can become a “Friend” and help out through your annual membership.
Pick up the FMCoA membership application at the Senior Center or go online to download a form: www.mattapoisett.net/sites/mattapoisettma/files/uploads/2018_friends_application_0.pdf.
Your membership will be valid through the end of 2018 and allows you to vote at the January Annual Meeting. For more information, contact Bob Kelley at 508-758-6311 or email r.kelley@ieee.org.
When Neil Lefaivre of Empire Design-Build, Inc. met with the Rochester Conservation Commission on December 5 to discuss his client’s 24-foot by 17-foot sunroom addition, he believed he had all the proverbial ducks in a row. On behalf of Matthew Monteiro of 590 New Bedford Road, Lefaivre submitted stamped engineered drawings and evidence that abutters had been notified of the proposed project.
But as Conservation Agent Laurell Farinon flipped through the U.S. Postal Service tickets that demonstrated the mailing of meeting notification to the abutters, she asked if the ‘green cards,’ the signed acknowledgments, had also been received. Lefaivre admitted that his office had not received any.
Still, the public hearing continued.
Chairman Michael Conway asked Monteiro why he had elected to place the sunroom within the 100-foot buffer zone of the wetlands. Monteiro shared that he and his wife were gardeners interested in using the new space to grow fruit trees indoors and that, given his property was heavily forested, the south exposure placed the structure within the buffer zone.
The commission then moved to approve the Notice of Intent with conditions; however, when the vote was taken, Conway voted ‘no.’
Conway then looked at Lefaivre and said, “Do you know why I voted no?”
Conway, with a steady gaze on Lefaivre, told him that simply providing the commission with receipts that notices were sent to abutters did not mean that the abutters actually received the notices.
“It’s more important to show the abutters received it,” said Conway.
Farinon countered that the requirement was not to prove that an addressee actually received a mailing, but that the applicant show proof of the mailing.
There were several tense moments as Conway told the commissioners they would have to re-visit their vote to amend the conditions.
Lefaivre offered to call the engineer, John DeLano, to ascertain if his office instead had received any signed responses. DeLano confirmed via telephone that green cards had been received, and Lefaivre offered to bring them to the conservation office the following day.
In other business, Rick Charon of Charon & Associates representing Donald King, 425 Neck Road, requested a Certificate of Compliance.
“It’s really a lovely project,” Charon said of work that had taken since 2011 to complete.
Farinon confirmed the quality of the finished project, saying, “The project all along went really well … has no adverse impact … [and] ended up with a well done project.”
The Certificate of Compliance was approved.
An abbreviated Notice of Intent filed by Greg Carey of Clean Energy Collective for property located at 0 Sarah Sherman Road was continued until December 19.
Also during the meeting, Farinon updated the commission on the placement of a piezometer at Snow’s Pond on property owned by Rochester Land Trust Chairman Bob Lawrence. The meter will measure the pond’s water level including ground water levels.
Farinon said the Mattapoisett River Valley Water Supply Protection Advisory Committee will be using data collected from the meter for their studies. A draft document was submitted by Farinon for the commission’s consideration that will formalize the agreement between the Town of Rochester and the committee.
The next meeting of the Rochester Conservation Commission is planned for December 19 at 7:00 pm in the town hall conference room.
Rochester Conservation Commission
By Marilou Newell
Raymond A. Lemieux, Sr., 88, of Mattapoisett passed away unexpectedly at home Sunday, December 3, 2017. He was the husband of the late Claire (Fleurent) Lemieux.
Born in New Bedford, son of the late Olivier and Cecile (Doucette) Lemieux, he lived in Mattapoisett for most of his life.
He served in the United States Air Force during the Korean War period.
Mr. Lemieux was a man of routine and enjoyed 7 AM coffee with the boys, cycling and attending activities at local senior centers. He could often be found sitting at his favorite picnic table at Ned’s Point.
He is survived by five children, Diane Kinney and her husband Sam of Mattapoisett, Pauline Parker and her husband Barry of Fairhaven, Cecile Callahan and her husband Walter of Mattapoisett, Raymond Lemieux, Jr. and his wife Jeannie of Eagle, CO, and Doris McCarthy of North Myrtle Beach, SC; his loving companion of 18 years, Jean Szyndler of Mattapoisett; seven grandchildren, Louis Ouellette, Jamie Oliveira, Michael Parker, Jillian Leech, Kelsey Callahan, Lucas McCarthy, and Lauren McCarthy; two great-grandchildren, Scarlett Parker and Jared Turchetta; and many nieces and nephews.
He was the great-grandfather of the late Kara Parker and the brother of the late Rolande Begin, Theresa Savoie, Rita Silva, Cecile Charest, and Leona Daniel.
His Funeral Mass will be held Friday, December 15th at 10:30 AM at St. Anthony’s Church, Mattapoisett. Burial will follow at 12:30 PM at the Massachusetts National Cemetery, Connery Ave., Bourne, MA 02532. A reception will follow the burial from 2-5 PM at the Reservation Golf Club, 10 Reservation Rd., Mattapoisett, MA 02739. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to Friends of the Mattapoisett Bicycle & Recreational Path, P.O. Box 1336, Mattapoisett, MA 02739 or online at https://www.gofundme.com/Matt-Rail-Trail or to the Fairhaven Council on Aging, 229 Huttleston Avenue, Fairhaven, MA 02719.
Taking advantage of the shortened school week, Old Rochester Regional High School held two assemblies in the morning blocks to show a documentary about the consequences of substance abuse.
Presented by the Clay Soper Memorial Fund, the film If They Had Known was shown to all students. Seniors and juniors saw it first in the morning, and sophomores and freshmen viewed it afterwards.
The documentary chronicles the night that 19-year-old Clay Soper died after mixing Xanax and alcohol. He had been at a party in his hometown of Winchester while on winter break from his first year in college. His friends who were with him that fateful night told the heartbreaking, yet sobering, story in the film.
The film was a wake-up call for many students at ORR.
“It showed us the real-life example that we didn’t see in health class when they said not to mix pills and alcohol, and that’s what makes the lesson more likely to stick,” commented senior Emily Bock.
The documentary did its part in raising awareness on the dangers of mixing drugs and alcohol and the seriousness of such consequences. Talk filtered through the hallways for the rest of the day on the subject that had been presented earlier, and discussion is always key to positive change in current or potential actions.
“Schools have made it abundantly clear by the time you’re in high school that, individually, drugs and alcohol are things you don’t want to get involved in, but I think it was news for all of us that taking drugs and alcohol together could easily kill you,” said freshman Lucy Zhang. “I think the documentary couldn’t have gotten the message across any better. It showed a teenager who didn’t know the fatal consequences and had actually died, which really struck a chord with the audience.”
“I think it was a bit more impacting because they gave background on [Clay Soper],” said freshman Jack Caynon. “I learned about the real dangers behind drugs and alcohol and that even if my friends suggest to do something, that sometimes it’s best to avoid the situation.”
ORR Update
By Jo Caynon
The Eastern Ocean Brass Ensemble will present a Christmas Carol Sing-Along at St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church in Marion, MA on Friday, December 15, at 7:00 pm. The quintet, led by Bob Katcher, trumpet, is comprised of two trumpets, trombone, French horn and tuba, and will present familiar carols of the season for all to sing along! The event is open to all, with a free-will donation joyfully accepted! Ring in the holidays with an outstanding brass ensemble, sing many of your favorite carols, and bring friends and family to create a new musical tradition! St. Gabriel’s Church is located at 124 Front Street in Marion.
Marion will maintain its single rate tax status for another year at the recommendation of the Board of Assessors, with the Marion Board of Selectmen voting in favor on November 27.
Assessor Brad Eames and Associate Assessor Linda Dessert strongly urged the selectmen to keep the single rate for residential and commercial properties due to the sheer disproportion in the percentage of residential versus commercial properties.
“The impact, because Marion is so heavily residential,” said Eames, “the impact on the homeowner is relatively small compared to the enormous impact it would have on the commercial people because there are so few….”
To demonstrate the burden that would ensue if the Town adopted a split rate, multi-million-dollar Marion business Sippican, Inc., which paid roughly $150,000 in taxes last year, would pay about $242,000 next year. A smaller business like the Marion General Store valued at just over half a million, which paid about $6,400 last year, would pay over $10,000 next year.
The current tax rate of $11.41 per $1,000 will go up by four cents to $11.45, with a $200,000 home or business paying $2,290 with the new tax rate as approved. A $300,000 home or business would be about $3,435, and a home or business worth $400,000 will pay $4,580 in taxes.
Selectmen Chairman Jody Dickerson commented that Marion’s tax rate is substantially lower than other towns in the region, with Dessert concurring.
“What I’ve seen is, we’re not that high,” Dickerson said. “I could be wrong … but Westport is just a little lower than us. Everyone else is higher than us.…”
In other matters, Town Administrator Paul Dawson stated that Department of Public Works Superintendent of 33 years Rob Zora has announced his retirement effective December 15.
Zora has been an employee of the Town of Marion for 46 years since 1971 and was appointed as superintendent in 1984.
“It’s good news for Rob and his family,” said Dawson, “It’s hard for us.”
“He has always put the town first,” said Dickerson. “He will definitely be missed … and I wish him great happiness in his retirement.”
The Town will post the position immediately.
Also during the meeting, the selectmen approved a RFQ proposal for the feasibility study of a new town administrative building at the new community center, awarding the contract, not to exceed $34,300, to LLB Architects of Pawtucket, RI.
Selectmen also ratified the police chief employment contract for Lt. John Garcia. Garcia will replace Chief Lincoln Miller when he retires at the end of this year.
Also, the board appointed Susan Titus to the Tree Committee and approved Chief Miller’s recommendation to appoint Fire Chief Brian Jackvony as the community emergency response coordinator.
The board also tabled a request by St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church to tie into the Town stormwater collection system in order to acquire further information on details.
The next meeting of the Marion Board of Selectmen is scheduled for December 5 at 6:30 pm at the Marion Community/Senior Center on Mill Road.
Marion Board of Selectmen
By Jean Perry