Solar to Replace Appealed Farmers Market Project

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The large open farmland on Marion Road once slated for a farmers market and café will likely be lined with solar arrays and enclosed by a wooden stockade fence come this time next year.

Craig Canning, owner of Rochester Farms, had Rochester Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals approval to construct a relatively large-scale retail farmers market with café back in 2017. The Cutlers across the road, however, were against the project from the start, appealing both boards’ approval in court and eventually settling with Canning who withdrew his approved applications without prejudice.

The Cutlers once commented during a public hearing that they would prefer to see a stockade fence than a farmers market – their wish may soon be granted.

Canning had alluded to the possibility of a solar array field after the prior project was quelled. On January 8, engineer Bob Rogers was before the Rochester Planning Board with an Approval Not Required application to carve 2.83 acres from the 60-acre property to convey to an abutter, and board Chairman Arnie Johnson said Rochester Farms would be at the next meeting for an informal discussion on a large-scale solar array project.

The public hearing for Decas Real Estate, 15 Cranberry Highway, for a Site Plan Review application to redevelop the existing building to accommodate Countryside Daycare was continued until January 22.

The public hearing for the 22-duplex age-restricted residential development beside Plumb Corner Mall on Rounseville Road was continued until February 26 at the request of the applicant, REpurpose Properties, LLC.

The next meeting of the Rochester Planning Board is scheduled for January 22 at 7:00 pm at the Rochester Town Hall.

Rochester Planning Board

By Jean Perry

Art for Your Mind

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After a busy Christmas season, the Sippican Woman’s Club will begin 2019 with a program presented by Jill Sanford, Art for Your Mind with a focus on America, an Artful Journey. Sanford’s program will challenge us to visualize in new ways. The Journey will take us through American paintings from colonial times to today, from folk art paintings to realism, then to modern abstract images – enabling us to visualize not only America’s growth and change, but also America’s developing artistic style through time.

This program will be held at Handy’s Tavern, 152 Front Street, Marion, at 12:30 pm on Friday, January 11. A finger-food luncheon will precede the program. Guests are most welcome to join us. For information on being a guest or becoming a member call Jeanne Lake at 508-748-0619.

Marion Community Preservation Committee

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Applications for Community Preservation Act funding are now available in the Town Clerks office at the Marion Town House located at 2 Spring Street, Marion. The Community Preservation Act is a Massachusetts Law that allows participating cities and towns to adopt a real estate tax surcharge, supplemented by State matching funds, in order to fund community preservation. Eligible projects must be directed towards: open space/recreation, historic preservation, or community housing. Applications must be received no later than February 11, 2019 to be considered for presentation at the May 2019 Annual Town Meeting.

Past Community Preservation funds have been used to:

-Design of an accessible boardwalk and viewing platform at Osprey Marsh.

-Secure nine affordable housing units having affordable housing deed restrictions for ninety-nine (99) years.

-Replace fencing at the Point Road Playground and Washburn Park.

-Design and secure permits for Phase I of the Marion Pathway (bike path).

-Install playground equipment at Washburn Park, the Point Road playground, and Silvershell Beach.

-Protect Marion’s drinking water supply through the purchase of lands and conservation interests in the Mattapoisett River Valley.

-Preserve the Marion Arts Center through the replacement of windows and exterior trim.

-Catalogue the Sippican Historical Society’s archives and complete the town’s architectural survey.

-Restore Marion’s historic 1937 Maxim fire truck.

Registration Open for Buzzards Bay Swim

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Make your New Year’s resolution to have a great time for a good cause at the 26th anniversary Buzzards Bay Swim on Saturday, June 22. Registration is now open at www.savebuzzardsbay.org/swim.

The Buzzards Bay Swim is an exciting outdoor experience that welcomes swimmers of all abilities and fitness levels ages 11 and up. Over 300 swimmers complete a scenic 1.2-mile point-to-point open water course from New Bedford’s South End, past the iconic Butler Flats Lighthouse and New Bedford Hurricane Barrier with a crowd of hundreds watching and cheering.

At the finish line at Fort Phoenix State Reservation in Fairhaven, swimmers and their guests are welcomed with a beach party featuring a live steel drum band, pancakes cooked to order, gourmet coffee, free massages, local craft beer, and awards and prizes. First-time and beginner swimmers can swim with a personal kayak or paddleboard escort for added support.

Dartmouth resident Martha Yules and her husband tried the Swim for the first time last year. “We loved it – what a fun and memorable experience! This event should be added to the proverbial bucket list for everyone living on the Southcoast.”

For those needing support to get from “Couch-to-Swim” in the New Year, YMCA Southcoast is offering a robust schedule of training programs that includes special short-term membership rates. Y membership includes pool access at the Wareham, New Bedford, and Fall River. Registered swimmers receive details and discount codes when they sign up for the Swim at www.savebuzzardsbay.org/swim.

Last year, swimmers raised a total of $158,000 to support the Coalition’s ongoing work to prevent pollution and protect clean water in Buzzards Bay.

Registration for the Buzzards Bay Swim is $25, and swimmers commit to raising a minimum of $150 each. Most find they can raise much more – including Bill Muldoon of Mattapoisett, who raised over $4,300 last year and took home the prize for Top Fundraiser. “My family has enjoyed spending many days sailing, swimming, and boating on Buzzards Bay,” he said. “I think it’s everyone’s responsibility to keep the Bay healthy and to conserve this great resource.”

Have a great time for a good cause at the 26th anniversary Buzzards Bay Swim on Saturday, June 22. Sign up now at www.savebuzzardsbay.org/swim

The Buzzards Bay Swim is a Waterkeeper Alliance SPLASH Series event, presented nationally by Toyota. For more information on the SPLASH Event Series, please visit www.splashseries.org. The Swim is also sponsored by Amica Insurance, Fiber Optic Center, and YMCA Southcoast. If your business would like to sponsor the Swim, contact events@savebuzzardsbay.org.

The Buzzards Bay Coalition in Marion

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The relatively new Buzzards Bay Coalition science laboratory and baykeeper boat building opened in October at the new location at Route 6 and Spring Street. It will now become a future landmark for clean water stewardship and activity centerpiece in Marion.

From this base of operation, the residential R/V Buzzards Baykeeper can be launched for water quality collection and monitoring all the way from Little Compton in Rhode Island to Woods Hole in Cape Cod. As illustrated, it will provide an expanded environmental playground for the Coalition marine dolphin mascot whose purpose of identification for children is spelled out on its apron in the initials C. W. for clean water.

The historic national focus of concern about clean water was brought to a legislative turning point with the passage of the Clean Water Act of 1986, primarily pioneered by the late Senator and previous Governor of Rhode Island, John H. Chaffee. John was my family’s next-door neighbor and close friend. He built his house with a panoramic view of the Potowomut River in East Greenwich. It was right next to our dairy farm that had historically been a Narragansett hunting and fishing ground. There, when I was 14 years old at the start of World War II, my father who was in the Air Force was reported missing in action over Germany. A Native American who worked on our farm adopted me as a blood brother.

Subsequently, and in my teenage years growing up, I walked with him in his ancestors’ footsteps along the waterfront that had also inspired John Chaffee towards a career in environmental conservation.

Today, the Coalition’s focus of conservation involves both land and water. They watch trails, stream flow, and rainwater when it bleeds into the estuaries with harmful pollutants adverse to reproduction. You will know when this raises their coastal red flag for consuming shellfish.

Another focus is in the local herring migrations where the magical phenomenon is known as “anadromous,” meaning the migration up streams from the sea to spawn. My native mentor taught me the meaning of this natural historic heritage that lasted to this very day. Later in life when I became president of the Berkshire Fish Hatchery Board of Directors, one of the members was the late David Cathcart who had been a vital supporting attorney to John Chaffee in Washington. Together, we did research for the Connecticut River Salmon Restoration Program and were awarded a U.S.F.W. National Partnership Award in Washington’s Rayburn Building. We had developed a process in our hatch house to imprint fingerling Atlantic salmon with river acids so that when they later migrated along the coast, they would recognize chemicals of the mother river and return to a location favorable for their own spawning.

Thanks to you as a reader and The Wandererfolks for allowing me to take you on my own personal bay walk. Let me leave you with the Native American conviction that this land is not ours to own or sell because it will be passed on to our children as caretakers and then future generations. This stewardship philosophy is the very heart of The Buzzards Bay Coalition, now expanded to Marion.

By George B. Emmons

Shining Tides Quilt Guild

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Shining Tides Quilt Guild, Inc. promotes social, charitable, educational, and cultural connections among quilters. We offer two meeting times: one during the day at VFW #3260, 281 Appleton St., New Bedford (corner of Appleton St. and Ashley Blvd.). Social at 9:30 am and meeting 10 am – 12 pm; we meet every 4th Monday from September – June. Our next meeting is January 14 at United Methodist Church, 67 Main St., Acushnet; social at 6:30 pm and meeting from 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm. We meet every 2nd Monday from September to June. Check out our Web site: www.shiningtidesquiltguiild.com.

Barbara L. (Warburton) Langlois

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Barbara L. (Warburton) Langlois, 88, died at home in Mattapoisett on Saturday, December 29, 2018 surrounded by family. She was predeceased by her husband John A. (Chick) Langlois and her beloved only child, John D. Langlois, who passed away in 2016. She lived in Mattapoisett for most of her life and wintered in Sarasota, FL.

Born in New Bedford on January 23, 1930, she was the daughter of the late James and Stella (Glowacki) Warburton. Upon graduation from New Bedford High School, she went to work for New England Telephone Company and retired in 1984 after 36 years. She was a communicant of St. Anthony’s Church in Mattapoisett.

Barbara was a devoted grandmother and spent a tremendous amount of time with her three grandchildren. She is survived by her daughter-in-law, Anne (Fistori) Langlois; her grandsons, Andrew Langlois and his wife Holly and William Langlois and his wife Erin; her granddaughter, Avery Langlois; and her great-granddaughter, Emerson Langlois.

In accordance with Barbara’s wishes, her service and burial in St. Anthony’s Cemetery will be private. Arrangements are by the Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home for Funerals. For online guestbook, visit www.saundersdwyer.com.

ORR Hockey Earns First Conference Win in Shutout

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Jake Demoranvillecontinued his strong start to the 2018-2019 season with a lights-out performance in Old Rochester/Fairhaven’s 4-0 win over Somerset Berkley boys hockey.

The Bulldogs’ goaltender was flawless in the shutout despite having a heavy workout throughout. Demoranville provided the steady hand by saving every one of the 31 shots that came on net, never giving the Blue Raiders an edge.

With Demoranville holding things down between the pipes, Chris Gauvinand Sam Austinwere able to do their thing in the offensive zone. Both Bulldogs sneaked the puck to the back of the net twice to propel Old Rochester/Fairhaven to its first South Coast Conference win of the season in its second chance of the year.

Old Rochester/Fairhaven starts the 2019 portion of this season’s schedule with a 2-2-1 record, with a 1-1 standing in the SCC.

Old Rochester Regional girls basketball continues its strong run to start the year, extending its undefeated start to five games by knocking off Seekonk 49-35. The matchup against the Warriors was also the Bulldogs first of the season.

ORR’s offensive production was, as usual, spread out, with Ashley Soaresscoring 13, Maggie Brogiolo11, and Mary Butleradding 10 to round out the team’s double-digit scorers.

Cole McIntyreled ORR (3-1, 1-0 SCC) to a 55-44 win over Seekonk in boys basketball. He also had help from Matt Brogioliand Nick Johnson, who each scored 13 points. On the other end of the floor, Sam Hartley-Mattsonhad nine rebounds and Jake Mouraohad six and three steals.

Old Colony

Jake Jasonand Zach Soucycontinue to be the heartbeat of the undefeated Old Colony Cougars (3-0), who took down Bristol-Plymouth boys basketball 55-40 to cap off 2018. Jason continues to creep towards the 2,000 career points mark, scoring 26 against the Crafstmen. Soucy finished second for the Cougars with 15 points in the win. Tony Wrightand Joel Cortezeach scored six points, andCooper Howellchipped in two in the win.

Old Colony girls basketball continues to struggle after winning its first game of the year, now having lost three in-a-row after falling 45-43 to Bristol-Plymouth. Hannah L’Heureuxled the Cougars with 11 points and Savanna Hallehad 10. After that, Kat Kirbyscored eight and both Lauren McGowanand Isabel Souzascored seven apiece.

The Cougars (1-3) look to get back on track when they host Norfolk Aggie to start Mayflower Athletic Conference Small vocational play on Friday.

Tabor Academy

For the first time since 2011, Tabor girls hockey was crowned the PKO Taft Tournament. The Seawolves earned the title after edging their way past Kent in a 4-3 finish.

Cindy Giandomenicoscored Tabor’s first goal on a breakaway, which was followed by an Olivia O’Briengoal shortly after. Abby Newhookalso scored on a breakaway for Tabor, which was started by a Julia Shaunessypass. Shaunessy would also score a goal of her own, the fourth and final for the Seawolves, which would prove to be the difference in the end.

Tabor boys hockey improved to 5-6 on the season after winning a tight 2-1 contest against Trinity-Pawling School. With Tabor trailing 1-0, Clendenin Stewarttied things up, helping set up for Alex Bower’s eventual game-winner on a pass from Blake Bartell.

High School Sports Update

By Nick Friar

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 2 West Drive. West Drive encompasses five lovely Shingle-style residences located on Sippican Harbor. Bearing evocative names such as Cedarholm, Merry Court, Stony Croft, and Hazelmere, this enclave’s residences are surrounded by rolling lawn dotted with rock outcroppings. To the rear of these houses are circular driveways and wooded areas. This area illustrates the popularity of the Shingle style used for the substantial summer residences in New England coastal communities during the 1880s and 1890s. The handsome Shingle-style cottage at 2 West Drive may be the oldest residence within the enclave. Built in 1893 for the Boston leather dealer, William M. Bullivant (188-1939), this home was designed by Charles Allerton Coolidge. In 1900, Bullivant founded the Northwestern Leather Company and served as its president until his retirement in 1921. Over time, Bullivant was able to acquire 450 acres of land at Great Neck, including the grounds of what is now the Marion Golf Club. The golf course and the gardens at this home were designed by George C. Thomas Jr. of Philadelphia, who summered on the Cape. A noted collector of art and rare books, Bullivant possessed one of the finest collections of etchings in the country. His library, though small, contained many rare books. For many years, he was a vestryman of St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church in Marion. He also belonged to numerous Boston clubs, including the Algonquin and Exchange Clubs, the Club of Odd Volumes, and the Iconographic Society.

NBSO Presents Fima Plays Beethoven

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On Friday, January 11, the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra kicks off the new year with “Fima Plays Beethoven,” an exceptional opportunity to hear the celebrated pianist Yefim Bronfman. Known as “Fima” to his friends and fans, Bronfman will perform Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto with the NBSO, under the direction of Yaniv Dinur. The concert will take place at 7:30 pm at the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center in downtown New Bedford.

The much-admired and acclaimed Bronfman, who has performed with most of the major orchestras in the United States and Europe, opens the program with Piano Concerto No. 2 by Ludwig van Beethoven. Beethoven was fond of performing this concerto himself as he thought it showed off not only his talents as a piano soloist but also as a composer. Bronfman, a powerhouse with a sensitive touch, is sure to make Beethoven proud. After a brief intermission, the orchestra returns to the stage to perform Bartok’s virtuosic and savage Miraculous Mandarin Suite and two delicate works by Lili Boulanger. Please join us before the performance for a free pre-concert talk by Music Director Yaniv Dinur at 6:30 pm in the Penler Space (adjoining The Z). Dinur will also speak about the concert on-air with Phil Paleologos on WBSM 1420AM on Thursday, January 10, at 9:10 am.

Tickets are $30‒$65, available through the Z box office, 508-994-2900, or online at www.nbsymphony.org. Student tickets are always $10 through the box office (not available online). Convenient concert parking is available in the Z garage. Concert sponsors are Robert B. Feingold & Associates, P.C., and Whaling City Sound.

The NBSO is a professional orchestra that annually presents a concert series of classical and pops music with internationally acclaimed guest artists, as well as an outstanding chamber music series. In addition, the NBSO’s innovative and nationally recognized educational programs reach 25,000 students each year. The NBSO is dedicated to building a community of music in the South Coast. Visit www.nbsymphony.org today.