From Sea to Shining Sea

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The Mattapoisett Free Public Library is very excited to present a free program on Wednesday, June 13from 6:30 – 7:30 pm by author Melinda M. Ponder, who will discuss her new book Katharine Lee Bates: From Sea to Shining Sea.

Bates (1859-1929), who grew up in Falmouth, wrote “America the Beautiful,” which was put to song and resonates for many people as the most patriotic and beloved American anthem. Her words speak of the beauty and love of our land, our people, and our country – a nation full of hope and possibility.

Ponder’s biography covers the complexities of Katharine Lee Bates, the teacher, poet, community builder, patriot, and trail-blazing woman who wrote “America the Beautiful.” Drawing on extensive research in Bates’ family diaries, letters, and memoirs, Ponder brings Bates to vivid life in her journeys from her childhood in Falmouth during the mid-1800s to Wellesley College, Boston, Oxford, Spain and Egypt. She will address such questions as: Where did Katharine’s childhood fascination in Falmouth with exploring the “wonderful and wide” world take her? How did her travels west to Chicago and Colorado Springs and then overseas to England and Spain inspire her to write and then significantly revise “America the Beautiful”? How did her adventures in Egypt and the Middle East create her final vision of her song?

Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing.

Registration is preferred but not required. Please register by calling 508-758-4171, emailing rsmith@sailsinc.org (provide the number of people attending & contact phone/email), or signing up in the library. The Library is located at 7 Barstow Street and is handicapped accessible.

MLT Keeps Education Flowing

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Mattapoisett Land Trust board members and Education Program Chairman Ellen Flynn braved the cold temperatures and damp conditions on Friday, May 18, when they joined educator Lynn Connor and members of her Old Rochester Regional High School Marine Biology class in the field. The location: Eel Pond.

Connor, with the financial support of the MLT, has been taking students into the field and specifically this location for a number of years. As new technology and tools for measuring plankton and other microscopic organisms such as underwater cameras have become available, Connor has employed these tools, deepening the experience for the students. Yet good old-fashioned rubber boots, pails, and siphoning tubes are still needed as several of the students stepped in to collect water samples and demonstrate to their benefactors how they plot changes in water quality at this sensitive location.

Eel Pond has been the site of extensive research by Connor’s students for a number of years, primarily collecting data on oxygen levels, an indicator of health for the ecosystem. The news is still very guarded, the students shared. The site is nearly completely surrounded by parcels of land that have been landscaped for decades, land disturbances that have added nitrogen-rich fertilizers into the pond, a process called nitrification.

Once all the data is collected, it is added to the GLOBE Program, an Internet site that allows students and observers from around the world to enter data that plots the health of bodies of water. The data may then be shared and accessed by students and scientists internationally.

MLT sponsors the students’ studies by providing transportation financing. But that’s not all, as earlier in the week MLT also provided assistance to ORRJHS Grade 7 classes with a field trip to the Cape Cod Canal.

Right in their own backyard, the Cape Cod Canal is an engineering marvel many take for granted. But for 240 students from the Tri-Town area on May 16 and 17, they learned the history of the canal, how it is managed, and the marine life that depends on its waters.

Flynn said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gave a presentation on the building of the canal and how it oversees the traffic flow through this man-made phenomenon. The students watched a film produced by the Army Corps then headed outside to learn everything from the construction practices employed to build the canal to its water currents and tides. The students also got a chance to learn about life-saving water craft used in the early days of the canal.

Dennis Arsenault, a member of the Army Corps, also discussed how the railroad bridge, which spans the canal, is maneuvered into place allowing trains to cross the watery expanse while water craft are halted.

Woods Hole Research Center marine scientist Hillary Sullivan gave a presentation to the students on the life cycle of the herring. Sullivan’s participation was also supported in part by the MLT and added to the overall educational experience of the students.

Sullivan explained how herring, a salt-water fish, must migrate inland each spawning season in order to breed and lay their eggs. The students observed the fish jumping up a “fish ladder,” a man-made device necessary due to the construction of the canal that gives the fish access to freshwater streams.

With an annual education fund of $5,000, the MLT supports local students, not only with educational experiences outside the classroom, but also with annual scholarships primarily geared to students pursuing a career in the environmental sciences.

The MLT, in partnership with the Buzzards Bay Coalition, will also be sponsoring a student trip to the Saw Mill River in Acushnet on June 18. The 19-acre former lumber mill site is now a park where one can observe water birds, canoe, or hike the walking trails that traverse a restored red maple swamp via boardwalk. The students will learn about the importance of maintaining healthy environments around freshwater sources.

To learn more about the work of the Mattapoisett Land Trust, visit www.mattlandtrust.org.

By Marilou Newell

Butterfly Garden to Honor Teacher

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As the clock in the tower at Center School accurately ticks down to the last day of the school year – June 25 – the Mattapoisett School Committee met for the last time on May 21 to give reports and share successes on a wide range of topics.

Sandy Hering, a member of the Mattapoisett Garden Group/Women’s Club announced that her group wished to install a memorial butterfly garden on Center School grounds to honor the late Suzanne Sylvester, a former teacher.

Hering described the area as a pollinator garden that would not only provide a tribute to a teacher whose passing is still felt, but would also give students an opportunity to study the importance of pollinating insects such as butterflies on the overall health and well-being of the environment.

Hering explained that with the assistance of Charles Dupont, a local landscaper, and Gene Jones, school facilities manager, the location of the proposed garden was evaluated and that with some selective pruning, invasive species removal, and updated design, the garden could be ready by fall.

The design as currently planned includes a memorial bench and, from Dupont, the donation of a yellow magnolia tree. Hering added that she is cultivating milkweed seeds at her residence and that those plants would be used to attract butterflies, bees, and other pollinators.

Principal Rose Bowman said, “Remembering a person who has made such a significant difference in the students’ lives is wonderful. Gardening was her passion.”

The committee voted to accept the garden as presented.

Winging their way back to the black and white issues that face educators and their institutions, District Superintendent Doug White gave the financial update.

While a recent refrigeration problem (a failing unit at Old Hammondtown School) had caused a wrinkle in the operating budget, some $288,000 remained in the fund with $172,000 earmarked for special education programs and $116,000 for regular day student needs.

White later thanked the voters of Mattapoisett for supporting the schools during the Annual Town Meeting and announced that contract negotiations were now nearing completion. School Committee member James Muse said that the FY19 budget had been signed.

White noted that the problem of securing talented computer programmers was recently discussed at a conference he attended. He said that the issue of educating students, not only with digital literacy but in computer programming, was critical and might be a career path students are not necessarily considering.

“We need to think about how we can help students consider computer science as a major,” White said.

Assistant Superintendent Dr. Elise Frangos reported that she had attended a seminar on “empathic discipline” methods for Grades 6 through 12. “It’s restorative justice,” Frangos said.

The discipline model allows the offending student to meet with peers to hear how his/her actions have hurt others, and then to make amends that allow the student to remain in the classroom versus being punitively removed from the school.

“Rather than the ejector seat … it’s a new way to think about discipline,” Frangos said.

School Committee member Carol Clifford said that during her professional life as an educator in Connecticut this method has been employed with great success.

Also during the meeting, Bowman emphasized the importance of the morning meetings that take place before the start of each school day that help to frame the students’ school day by providing social and emotional support.

“This leads them to making better responsible decisions,” she said. Younger children are allowed time to work off energy after arriving at school with a walk around the auditoriums and learning yoga, Bowman said. “It’s amazing to see the change.”

Bowman also thanked and appreciated the partnerships the schools enjoy with the YMCA, PTA, Mattapoisett Land Trust, and Buzzards Bay Coalition. She also mentioned the important role of the Mattapoisett Free Public Library in supporting reading achievement with the Quahog Reading Program and summer reading programs.

The next meeting of the Mattapoisett School Committee is scheduled for September 17at 6:30 pm in Center School.

Mattapoisett School Committee

By Marilou Newell

 

ORR Class of 1964 Summer Gathering

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After a year’s absence due to the ORR Grand Reunion last year in Marion, the Class of 1964 summer gathering at Ned’s Point Light is back. Join classmates and friends on Saturday, June 16at noon, rain or shine. Bring your lawn chairs and a bagged lunch and reminisce, share pictures of the Grand Reunion, catch up on the year’s events or just enjoy the view. All are welcome.

Ready for a Night Out?

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The Rochester Historical Society is sponsoring a dance on Saturday,July 14from 7:00 – 11:00 pm at Redmen Hall, 745 Main Street, Wareham (behind Wareham Crossing). Rochester’s DJ Howie will be our DJ playing music from the 60s, 70s, and 80s for your listening and dancing pleasure.

Admission is $15 pp and tickets will be available at the door or call 508-961-7401 or 508-763-2122 to purchase them in advance. All proceeds from the dance will go towards our fundraising efforts to replace the side stairs/landing at the museum.

There will be door prizes, a Silent Auction and refreshments. Hope you see you there.

Tri-Town Happenings for Memorial Day

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It’s that unofficial kickoff to the summer, and Tri-Town’s traditional activities will continue this year, with a few minor changes here and there.

            Marion:Memorial Day preparations begin on Saturday, May 26, at 10:00 am at Evergreen Cemetery on Route 6 with the Scouts and other volunteers tidying up the cemetery and planting flowers on veterans’ graves. Anyone wishing to volunteer may arrive at the cemetery to help out, and any help is always welcome.

On Monday, May 28, the Memorial Day ceremony will start at 9:00 am at the Marion Music Hall on Front Street. The Town welcomes guest speaker Lt. Col. Jeremy Beaven, USMC, a Bronze Star recipient, among other honors.

Note, however, that there is a new parade route this year, which begins at the Music Hall and heads north on Front Street marching 0.6 miles up Front Street to the Veterans’ Memorial at Old Landing. Upon arrival at the Veterans’ Memorial, the town will pay tribute to our military’s “honored dead” who “gave the last full measure of devotion.”

The Sippican School Band as well as the Portuguese American Band will be performing and marching, and in the case of inclement weather, the ceremony will be held inside Sippican School.

“We have been rained out the past couple of years, so we are hoping for good weather this year,” said Marion Memorial Day Committee member Donna Hemphill.

Rochester:The Town of Rochester holds its Memorial Day observance on Sunday, May 27, on the steps of Town Hall at noon. The annual parade will follow, featuring the RMS School Band, Rochester Firefighters, Police, and Scouts.

Then on Monday is the 84thannual Rochester Memorial Day Boat Race on the Mattapoisett River, beginning at 8:30 am at Grandma Hartley’s Reservoir on Snipatuit Road and finishing at the Herring Weir in Mattapoisett off Route 6/River Road. The trophy ceremony is at Rochester Memorial School that evening at 7:30 pm.

“This is the 84thanniversary of the race, and it remains one of the few racing events with no entry fees as it was in 1934 when it was started,” said race chairman Arthur Benner.

Mattapoisett:There has been a change in venue this year for the Florence Eastman Post 280 of the American Legion Memorial Day parade and ceremony, which will now be held at Center School on Monday, May 28 at 1:30 pm.

Guest speaker is Military Professor Colonel Christopher J. Kidd of the U.S. Army. Colonel Kidd has a lengthy military career with multiple deployments and is now a military professor at the Naval War College in Newport, RI.

The Old Hammondtown School Band will perform and, following the ceremony, the parade will form on Barstow Street and proceed to the Mattapoisett Library for a wreath ceremony at the WWI Monument, the Civil War Monument, and the Florence Eastman Stone. From the library, the parade will proceed to the Town Wharf where an observance will be held for those who lost their lives at sea. Units will be dismissed at the Town Wharf following the ceremony.

The Wanderer wishes everyone a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day, and if you see us pointing a camera at you at any of these events, smile! And don’t forget to read The Wanderer … You might be in it!

Rochester’s Regionalized 911 Goes Live

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Rochester’s participation in the Regional Old Colony Communications Center (ROCCC) in Duxbury officially started on Tuesday, May 22, after months of preparation and a long list of communication infrastructure upgrades.

Town Administrator Suzanne Szyndlar reported that on Monday the system underwent one final testing in preparation for the switchover, “And radio testing was really great,” she said.

“It was successful, loud and clear,” said Szyndlar. Previous problem areas in town such as near the New Bedford Waterworks, the Annie Maxim House, and inside SEMASS, Szyndlar said, “All came in at least acceptable or loud and clear.”

One of the Rochester dispatchers will now be police secretary, and the rest of the Rochester dispatchers will remain on the job until May 31.

The ROCCC issued a public service announcement to Rochester residents, assuring them that they would not notice a difference in service when dialing 911.

In other matters, the board approved tractor pull fundraisers for the Rochester Country Fair – one for June 9 and one for June 16, which was initially the rain date for the June 9 fundraiser, but because a fundraiser in May was canceled, RCF Committee Co-Chair Kelly Morgado requested allowing the additional date, “So we don’t lose that money,” said Morgado.

During the town administrator’s report, Szyndlar reported that the ADA bathroom at the Town Hall was now complete, “And it looks really great,” said Szyndlar. “The floors in the conference room have been polished and everything is looking really nice. [Facilities Manager Andrew Daniel] did an outstanding job. He’s very dedicated.”

The next meeting of the Rochester Board of Selectmen is scheduled for June 4at 6:00 pm at the Rochester Town Hall.

Rochester Board of Selectmen

By Jean Perry

 

Superintendent Receives Favorable Evaluation

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Robert Fichtenmayer of Wareham, Chairperson of the Upper Cape Cod Regional Vocational-Technical School District Committee, was pleased to announce that Superintendent Robert A. Dutch received a proficient evaluation from the School Committee. The report was announced at the May 10 meeting, at which Elizabeth Magauran of Marion remarked that she wishes there was a rating between Proficient and Exemplary as Dr. Dutch “is much better than Proficient having shown exemplary performance in a number of areas.” Dr. Dutch, who is in his sixth year as Superintendent, received exemplary marks from several members of the nine-person committee, most notably in the area of Family and Community Engagement. Dr. Dutch received proficient marks in Instructional Leadership, Management and Operations, and Professional Culture.

The committee members, representing the five district towns which include Bourne, Falmouth, Marion, Sandwich, and Wareham, agreed that the statement “it is all about the kids” sits deep in Dr. Dutch’s heart and stands as his marching order.

Chairperson Fichtenmayer summarized the evaluation stating that “Dr. Dutch works hard in finding the ways, monies, and materials to make his staff member’s jobs easier and better. His efforts and leadership approach are demonstrated by the high caliber of students that graduate.”

New England’s General Stores

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The Elizabeth Taber Library will host an author talk with Ted Reinstein on Thursday, May 31at 6:30 pm.

The general store is literally as old as America itself. It harkens back to a simpler time and a more innocent and rural nation. It conjures a country-like place where kids come in to buy penny candy, and adults to buy everything from swaths of fabric, to fresh vegetables, to four-penny nails. It was a place to pick up mail, the newspaper, and perhaps tarry a bit on a cold, winter’s morning to chat over a cup of coffee and a warm wood stove. Long before “Cheers,” the general store was the vital and inviting heart of a community, where everyone not only knew your name, but how you took that coffee, how many kids you had, and how’s your dad doing, anyway? And in tough times, it was a place that often treated customers like family, extending credit when no one else would. In short, the general store was real-life Norman Rockwell – deeply woven into America’s cultural identity, an integral part of the nation’s self-portrait from its earliest days. But over the last 50 years, many of New England’s general stores, competing with behemoths like Wal-Mart and Target, began to disappear. But then a funny thing happened: people really missed them. And in many towns, decided to hold onto them.

In talking about New England’s General Stores: Exploring an American Classic, broadcast journalist Ted Reinstein of Chronicleshares the rich and colorful history of this iconic institution, how they figured in the rise of early American commerce, why they began to fade, and why – like another New England icon, the diner – they have begun to come back and even be re-invented and re-imagined for a new era. Told with anecdotes from a variety of local landmark stores across the region, the presentation is accompanied by the award-winning photography of Art Donahue. There will be a Q&A session and book signing after the presentation.

2018 Keel Awards

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The Wandereris pleased to announce that we are soliciting nominations for our 25thannual “WandererKeel Awards.” The yearly community service honor, presented to one Tri-Town resident from each of the three central towns in our circulation area, will be announced in our July 26 edition, and each winner will be the subject of a short feature highlighting their contributions to the local community. But The Wandererneeds your help in selecting these “unsung heroes.”

The requirements are simple. Nominees must be legal residents for at least five years of Mattapoisett, Marion, or Rochester, and must have contributed in some way to the overall benefit of the community – either directly to town residents, or indirectly through efforts in promoting town activities, or working to keep the wheels of local government well oiled. The only restriction is that these persons cannot benefit from their efforts in any other way – either financially or politically (hence, sitting elected officials are not eligible).

In doing this, we hope to applaud those who are rarely recognized for their countless hours of service and focus on the many people behind the scenes who remain otherwise anonymous, but who provide crucial support to many town functions.

Like the keel of a ship that keeps the vessel from capsizing, the recipients of the Annual Wanderer Keel Award will be recognized for their stalwart efforts in keeping the community on an “even keel.”

Past recipients of this honor include:

–MATTAPOISETT: Maurice “Mudgie” Tavares (1994); Priscilla Alden Hathaway (1995); Norma Holt (1996); Gale Hudson (1997); Kenneth Stickney (1998); Clara Morgan (1999); Betty and Bert Theriault (2000); John N. “Jack” DeCosta (2001); Jo Pannell (2002); Stan Ellis (2003); Evelyn Pursley (2004); Luice Moncevitch (2005); Seth Mendell (2006); Bradford A. Hathaway (2007); Kim Field (2008); David Spencer Jenny (2009); Stephen L. Kelleher (2010); Bento Martin (2011); Howard C. Tinkham (2012); Ellen Flynn (2013); Jennifer Shepley (2014); Ruth Bates (2015, posthumously); Debbi Dyson and Julie Craig (2016); Bonne DeSousa (2017).

–MARION: Claire Russell (1994); Ralph and Phyllis Washburn (1995); Annie Giberti (1996); Jay Crowley (1997); Tyler Blethen (1998); Olive E. Harris (1999, posthumously); Kathleen P. “Kay” Reis (2000); Loretta B. “Lori” Schaefer (2001); Ann and Warren Washburn (2002); Andrew Santos Sr. (2003); Eunice Manduca (2004); Annie Giberti (2005); A. Lee Hayes (2006); Horace “Hod” Kenney (2007); Margie Baldwin (2008); Jack Beck (2009); Dr. John Russell (2010); Jane McCarthy (2011); Nancy Braitmeyer (2012); Rodney Hunt (2013); Hanna Milhench (2014); Robbi Dunn-Tracy (2015); Joanne Mahoney (2016); Diane Cook (2017).

–ROCHESTER: Joseph McCarthy (1994); Jean Fennell (1995); Katherine Hartley Church (1996); Chris Byron (1997); Albert Alderson (1998); Arthur and Aline Lionberger (1999); Kenneth E. Daggett (2000); Georgia D. Chamberlain (2001); Mary P. Wynne (2002); Evelyn F. Benner (2003); Mike Meunier Sr. (2004); Arthur F. Benner (2005); Pamela J. Robinson (2006); Anna E. White (2007); John E. Lafreniere (2008); Cathy Mendoza (2009); Kate Tarleton (2010); John Cobb (2011); Thomas Goyoski Jr. (2012); Kevin Woodward (2013); Kate Lanagan MacGregor (2014); Gordon Helme (2015); Doreen DeCosta (2016); Danni Kleiman (2017).

Please send the name, address and telephone number of recommended nominees, along with a brief description of their key contributions to the community and why you feel they are deserving of this honor to: Keel Award, The Wanderer, P.O. Box 102, Mattapoisett, MA 02739, or e-mail your submissions to news@wanderer.com.

The deadline for nominations is Thursday, July 19by 3:00 pm.