ORR Students Receive Art Awards

on

Students from the Old Rochester Regional High School received awards at the annual Congressional Art Competition for the 9th Congressional District.

Twelve students displayed artwork in the show: Claire Barry, Danya Bichsel, Abigail Forcier, Amelia Isabelle, Kaitlin Kelley, Christopher Knight, Lindsey Merolla, Mikayla Mooney, Claire Noble-Shriver, Elise Parker, Geneva Smith and Alexandra Vanderpool.

Claire Barry’s linoleum block print, “Siesta Key” won first in the prints category and Elise Parker’s painting “Forest Glow” won third place in the painting category. Claire Noble-Shriver received an honorable mention in the print category as well.

All the artwork was on display at the Plymouth Center for the Arts and an awards reception was held on April 27, 2018. Congressman Bill Keating was there to present the students with their award certificates. It was a wonderful evening celebrating the young artists. The artwork from the show will be on display at the New Bedford AHA! night on May 10. http://www.ahanewbedford.org/calendar.php

Garden Club of Buzzards Bay Plant Sale

on

The Garden Club of Buzzards Bay will hold its annual plant sale on Saturday, May 12from 9:00 am to noon at St. Mary’s Parish Center, 783 Dartmouth Street, Dartmouth. Members have been propagating and nurturing plants all winter at the club’s greenhouse and will offer a wide variety of annuals and perennials at very reasonable prices. There will be more than 10 varieties of coleus; scented, variegated and unusual geraniums; a wide selection of succulents in interesting containers; herbs and tomatoes (mostly heirlooms); and perennials from members’ gardens, some of the finest plant collections on the Southcoast. The event is free and open to the public.

The GCBB uses proceeds from the sale to fund community projects, including grants, scholarships and maintenance of three gardens and the greenhouse at the Rotch Jones Duff Garden and Museum in New Bedford. The club has awarded more than $40,000 over the past decade to small projects that promote gardening and conservation. Money has been used to support food bank gardens, help school gardening programs, and create several butterfly gardens in the area, as well as several other projects.

Approximately 600 New Bedford fourth graders will come to the RJD the first week in May for the club’s Backyard Botany program. The program is now in its 30th year and is a hands-on way to discover the importance of pollinators and see array of plants in the greenhouse.

The club also runs a Trunk Show in August. This year, more than 20 vendors will display their wide variety of goods at the Wamsutta Club, New Bedford in August.

2017 Nobel Laureate in Physics Visits Tabor

on

Tabor students and faculty just had the awe-inspiring experience of listening to a lecture by the 2017 Nobel Laureate physicist up close and personal right on campus. Dr. Rainer Weiss, of MIT, shared his work on detecting gravitational waves with two packed houses of students and faculty. He was kind and approachable, encouraged questions, and did his best to bring his heavenly topic down to earth.

As well known as he is for his leadership in groundbreaking discoveries about our universe, Weiss is also renowned for his love of speaking to students at the high school level. He, therefore, graciously accepted the invitation of Tabor’s Mathematics and Computer Science Department.

Jeanne Townsend, a staff member in Tabor’s IT Department and student of physics in college, summarized the hour-long talk as follows. “While numbers, formulas, and scientific theories aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, evidently black holes are. Anything involving black holes gets the public’s attention. As Dr. Weiss explained, pop culture and comics have paved the way for people to feel ownership of black holes, which are among the objects that cause the gravitational waves Dr. Weiss and his colleagues detect. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory, or LIGO, project that Dr. Weiss collaborated on has created a new method for observing the heavens. LIGO has recorded black holes merging and, more recently, neutron stars colliding. Both interactions involve objects with huge masses travelling near the speed of light, conditions necessary to create detectible gravitational waves. Using LIGO to help triangulate the location in space of cosmic mayhem provides scientists with another lens with which to view, study, and explore our universe.”

Dr. Weiss encouraged the audience by his example and his obvious passion and joy in his subject, to explore our curiosities, make mistakes as we pursue knowledge, and to continue to ask questions His inventions and accomplishments are legendary, but his basic message can resonate with all of us. A member of the Tabor math department, Matt Voci, said, “Dr. Weiss is simply humbled by attention that has been pointed in his direction by his most recent honor because he constantly professes that the success of the LIGO observatory has been the work of thousands of people.” Voci remarked that, “Dr. Weiss conveyed that greater than the individual findings was the collaborative that has been formed by some of the greatest minds in the field from all around the world, unified for a single goal.”

The highlight of his talk may have come following a question posed by Tommy Hu ’20. Cautiously, he asked, “What is the real-life application of your work.” While Dr. Weiss could have gone on a tangent about the hundreds of inventions that will have immediate ramifications in the fields of laser development and stabilization, medical or industrial usages, he instead responded passionately to the question with, “We do science, not to make better technology, rather, because it makes life more interesting.”

A recording of the talk can be found on www.taboracademy.org under news.

May Book Sale at Mattapoisett Public Library

on

Get ready to hit the beach with your favorite books! The Friends Book Sale is the perfect opportunity to stock up on some summer reading material. The Friends of the Mattapoisett Library will be holding their Second Saturday Monthly Book Sale on May 12from 10:00 am until 1:00 pm, downstairs at the library, 7 Barstow Street. Stop in to browse our great selection and buy a “Bag of Books” for only $15!

The Friends wish to thank the many donors who keep the library supplied with quality book donations. Book sale proceeds enable the Friends to sponsor many of the special programs offered at the library and to make special purchases of books, museum passes, equipment, etc. Book donations are accepted at the library circulation desk during regular library hours.

The Friends of the Library is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit group of volunteers created to support the library. The Friends always seek adult volunteers to help with setup and during the sale, as well as help with various library events through the year. To become a member of the Friends of the Mattapoisett Library, inquire at the book sale or look for our membership forms located at the library circulation desk.

ORR High School Honor Roll

on

The following students have achieved honors for the third term at Old Rochester Regional High School:

Highest Honors, Grade 9:Taylor Amaral, Margaret Carroll, Steven Carvalho, Alexander Craig, Carly Drew, Rachael Fantoni, Rachel Foye, Emily Graham, Molly Janicki, Madisyn Leavitt, Katelyn Luong, Brianna Machado, Colin Mackin, Eva Angeline McCann, Rebecca Milde, Evan O’Brien-Nichols, Serena O’Connell, Lindsey O’Donnell, Jonathan Pereira, Bessie Pierre, Daphne Poirier, Paige Sommers, Kathleen Tenerowicz, Jessica Vance, Sophie Vigeant, Emma Vivino, Tyler Wadman, Elizabeth Wiggin, Emma Williamson, Rachel Zutaut; Grade 10:Colby Alves, Cole Ashley, Gabrielle Bold, Tova Brickley, Dante Cusolito, Lilah Gendreau, Audrey Knox, Stephen Marston, Ian McCann, Ella McIntire, Alexa McLeod, Alexandra Moniz, Danielle Nutter, Allison Paim, Rachel Perry, Cecilia Prefontaine, Mackenzie Riley; Grade 11:Marc Bourgeois, Alexandra Fluegel, Ian Friedrichs, Rosemary Loer, Harrison Riley; Grade 12:Emily Bock, Abigail Dyson, Maggie Farrell, Collin Fitzpatrick, Maxine Kellum, Madisen Martin, Hannah McMorrow, Lindsey Merolla, Andrew Miller, Sam Pasquill, Jahn Pothier, Caitlin Stopka, Evan Tilley.

High Honors, Grade 9:Isaiah Andrade, Novalye Arruda, Emma Carroll, Joseph Dumas, Maeve Geraghty, Lindsay Holick, Isabelle Kelly, Faith Oliver, Rachel Pina, Evan Smith, William Stark, Mason Tucker, Samantha Winters; Grade 10:Meghan Berg, Sarah Besancon, Mary Butler, Bethany Cabral, Jacob DeBastos, Jack Gerard, Nicholas Johnson, Elise Mello, Alexandra Old, Rebecca Pacheco, Alexi Smead, Hannah Stallings, Sofia Sudofsky, Victoria Sullivan, Eric Tippins, Emily Wilson; Grade 11:John Burke, Julia Cabral, Sydney Green, Holden King, Abigail Lacock, Michaela Mattson, Samantha Nicolosi, Lauren Pina, Maria Ramsay, Adam Sylvia, Raymond Williams; Grade 12:Samantha Ball, Kristian Bodin, Erin Burke, Isabelle Choquette, Megan Field, Riley Goulet, Marina Ingham, Hanil Kang, Hannah Powers, Aidan Thayer, Lynn Wischnewski.

Honors, Grade 9:Margaret Berry, Alexia Blais, Curtis Briggi, Shelby Carmichael, Isabella Carrillo, Mia Costa, Andrew Coucci, Meghan Craig, Erin Davis, Kaitlyn Dawicki, Tessa DeMaggio, Mariana Ditata, Jordan Duarte, Meaghan Dufresne, Katherine Dwyer, Sydney Feeney, Abigail Forcier, Bianca Frazier, Prosser Friedman, Lauren Hartley, Meghan Horan, Stefan Hulsebosch, Mia Hurley, Jacob Jensen, Jayce Kouta, Colin Kulak, Jhett Labonte, Sierra Lanzoni, Grace McCarthy, Abigail McFadyen, Aidan McLaughlin, Aidan Milton, Bethany Morgan, Jason Motta, Christian Noble Shriver, Samuel Noblet, David Oliver, Caroline Owens, Brian Palker, Ryan Quinlan, Raegan Rapoza, Aidan Root, Leah Scott, Kennedy Serpa, Teagan Shay, Alexandra Vanderpol, Reily Veilleux, Kayli Vieira, Cassidy Yeomans, Paige Zutaut; Grade 10:Felicia Aguiar, Jacqueline Barrett, Jonathan Borsari, Camden Brezinski, Jack Cadden, April Choquette, Toni Ciffolillo, Charlotte Cole, Lucas Costa, Luke Couto, Michelina Ditata, Samuel Dunn, Molly Finnegan, Emma Gabriel, Grace Greany, Madison Guinen, Ruth Harris, Meg Hughes, Ryu Huynh-Aoyama, Gabriel Jacobsen, Zoe Kelley, Paul Kippenberger, Chloe Lanagan, Kate Marsden, Emma Mastovsky, Noah Maxwell, Aidan Michaud, Gwendolyn Miedema, Hunter Moreau, Natalie Nilson, Megan Nolan, Lauryn Pallatroni, Ruby Pasquill, Hannah Pires, Alyssa Quaintance, Amanda Rapoza, Janey Rego, Benjamin Ritchie, Erin Scott, Joseph Sheridan, Hadley Walsh, Aiden Woods; Grade 11:Bryce Afonso, Malisha Archelus, Samuel Austin, Michael Barry, Emma Blouin, Nickolas Borsari, Sara Campopiano, Mikayla Chandler, Marisa Cofone, Brielle Correia, Nicole Fantoni, Adrian Gleasure, Pavanne Gleiman, Chandler Goulart, Genevieve Grignetti, Daniel Hartley, Abigail Horan, Amelia Isabelle, Hanbyul Kang, Kaitlin Kelley, Caitlyn King, Jillian Kutash, Nolan LaRochelle, Tayler Lee, Geoffrey Noonan, Elisa Normand, Avery O’Brien-Nichols, Carly O’Connell, Kevin Ovian, Lily Poirier, Meghan Rebello, Brett Rood, Sophia Schiappa, Megan Shay, Alexandria Sheehan, Geneva Smith, Justin Smith, Delaney Soucy, Taylor Swoish, Robert Sylvester, Gates Tenerowicz, Nicholas Thayer, Julius Wagoner, Madison Welter, Isabella Wierzbicki, Natalia Wierzbicki, Alexander Wurl, Lily Youngberg; Grade 12:Haleydawn Amato, Ainslee Bangs, Gheorghita Battaglia, Freemin Bauer, Colin Bourgeois, Thomas Browning, Ashley Brzezinski, Gabrielle Choquette, Ava Ciffolillo, Evan Costa, Jacob DeMaggio, Celia Deverix, Stephanie Dondyk, Hannah Farias, Bennett Fox, Alexandrea Gerard, Mackenzie Good, Sophie Gurney, Sophie Hubbard, Alexandra Hulsebosch, Sophie Johnson, Caitlyn Kutash, Allison Kvilhaug, Warren Leavens, Alexander Lorenz, Joshua Marcial, Julia Melloni, Elizabeth Mitchell, Ethan Mort, Christiane Peretz, Leah Przybyszewski, Victoria Quinlan, Isabella Rodrigues, Jamie Roznoy, Isabella Sauro, Madeline Scheub, Harrison Smith, Benjamin Snow, Abigail Stark, Grace Stephens, Jake Thompson, Courtney Vance, Ella Vercellone, Ashleigh Wilson, Jacob Yeomans.

Kids Equipment Fun Day

on

Marion Recreation will once again offer Kids Equipment Fun Day on Saturday, May 12from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm at Washburn Park in Marion. Attendees will be able to take pictures, climb on, and sit in various trucks, tractors, and equipment. Fire trucks, ambulances, police cruisers, bulldozers, boats and more will all be on hand to get an up-close look at. New this year: Sensory Awareness Hour from 11:00 am to 12:00 noon. No sirens, horns or lights during this hour. Also, Marion Recreation will host a cookout in conjunction with this event with proceeds benefitting the Marion Recreation Financial Assistance Program. This program provides scholarships for income eligible participants to attend the many programs offered through the Recreation Department. For more information, visit www.marionma.gov/recreation-deparment or email recreation@marionma.gov.

James M. Collins

on

James M. Collins, 56, of Marion died May 1, 2018 unexpectedly at Tobey Hospital.

He was the husband of Holly D. (Robbins) Collins.

Born in Boston, the son of Jeanne F. (Walsh) Collins of St. Petersburg, FL and the late James L. Collins, he lived in Dexter Beach of Marion all of his life.

He was most proud of all his children’s accomplishments and enjoyed boating, music, spending time with his friends and most of all, he enjoyed life.

Survivors include his wife; his mother; 3 daughters, Courtney, Catherine and Jennifer; a step-son, Brandon; a brother, David Collins; a sister; Denise Gabriel; a granddaughter, Claire; 2 best friends, Richard Casoni and Bradford Silva; 2 nieces and 2 nephews.

He was the brother of the late Jeannie Collins.

His visiting hours will be held on Sunday, May 20th from 1-4 pm in the Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home for Funerals, 50 County Rd., Route 6, Mattapoisett. For directions and guestbook, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.

Preserve Marion’s Historic Town Hous

on

To the Editor:

Preserve Marion’s Historic Town House for $36/year.

Thirty-six dollars per year is the difference in additional property taxes on a $400,000 home in Marion to fund the renovation of our beautiful, historic Town House compared to building a new one on Route 6. That’s $3 per month. Is it worth it? I certainly think so.

I am proud to be a “native” Marionite – born and schooled in this special, quintessential New England town. I left to attend college and pursue my career, then after 35 years living on the west coast and elsewhere, my husband (also a Marion native) and I returned home with our family. Nowhere else we’ve lived has ever felt like home. What makes Marion so special? Our community, waterfront, and beautiful village. Travel around the country and you find many towns that have lost their hometown personality to cookie-cutter development and congestion. Marion has managed to hang onto its peaceful charm over many decades, but maintaining it for our children and grandchildren will require continued vigilance and investment.

The Town House is one of the fibers that keeps Marion’s fabric strong. When I take visitors on a tour of our town, their eyes light up when they see our beautiful, historic buildings. Might we save a few bucks by building a new town hall on the VFW property? Maybe. Will a developer see value in converting the Town House to condos or offices? Doubtful. Remediating asbestos, replacing the electrical system, and meeting building codes will likely cost more than the market price of the condos. Similar historic buildings in Fairhaven sit deteriorating as they wait for a developer to rescue them.

Like the Mastercard ad says, “A new town hall: $5,107,000. A preserved historic Town House: priceless.” Please come to Town Meeting on May 14 and vote to keep Marion’s Town Hall where it is for generations to come.

Jennifer Francis, Marion

 

The views expressed in the “Letters to the Editor” column are not necessarily those of The Wanderer, its staff or advertisers. The Wanderer will gladly accept any and all correspondence relating to timely and pertinent issues in the great Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester area, provided they include the author’s name, address and phone number for verification. We cannot publish anonymous, unsigned or unconfirmed submissions. The Wanderer reserves the right to edit, condense and otherwise alter submissions for purposes of clarity and/or spacing considerations. The Wanderer may choose to not run letters that thank businesses, and The Wanderer has the right to edit letters to omit business names. The Wanderer also reserves the right to deny publication of any submitted correspondence.

Prudence M. “Prue” (Manley) Cormier

on

Prudence M. “Prue” (Manley) Cormier, 73, of Palm Harbor, FL died May 6, 2018 at home after a brief illness.

She was the wife of the late Joseph A. Cormier.

Born in Wareham, the daughter of the late Dr. James S. Manley and Rose (O’Brien) Manley, she lived in New Bedford most of her life before moving to Palm Harbor, Florida in 1989.

Mrs. Cormier was a communicant of St. Luke’s Church in Palm Harbor.

She was a member of the New England Club of Highland Lakes.

Mrs. Cormier enjoyed golf, ceramics and puzzles.

Survivors include her 2 daughters, Christine A. and Diane R., and her husband Samuel E.; a sister-in-law, Diane Doyon of Clearwater, FL; 3 grandchildren, Vanessa M., Samuel T. and Isabelle R.; a niece, Donna Dimiceli and her husband Rich; and a great-nephew, Nicholas.

She was the sister of the late David O. Manley.

Her Funeral will be held on Tuesday, May 15th at 9 am from the Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home for Funerals, 50 County Rd., Route 6, Mattapoisett, followed by her Funeral Mass at St. Anthony’s Church in Mattapoisett at 10 AM. Burial will follow in St. Mary’s Cemetery. Visiting hours will be on Monday, May 14th from 4-8 pm. For directions and guestbook, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.

The Primordial Snapping Turtle

on

The warming days of May are when the female snapping turtle crawls up out of the winter waters of hibernation and heads overland as much as a half mile or more to lay her eggs for the autumnal hatching of the next generation.

Along her traditional route of this annual pilgrimage, often to the same location, she may appear at the edge getting ready to cross a country road. Then, in less than a single day, she will lay thirty to forty eggs and bury them in the warm sands of a sunny slope as illustrated. When this reproductive duty is done, she promptly retraces her steps along the same route, returning to the muddy bottoms of aquatic habitat. This unfortunately leaves her eggs in a predictable location often to be found by hungry skunks, raccoons, and crows.

Terrestrial egg laying is a reptilian reproduction ritual for snapping turtles classified as the Chelydra Serpentina. The serpent symbol that often surfaces in the mind of mortal man is of course the scheming reptile alluding to temptation for reproduction in the biblical Garden of Eden. The so-called ‘snapper’ also seems to be evil when confronted on land by mankind. It has a similarly tricky combative disposition with powerful jaws and sharp edges of a tail not to be twisted. As an underworld aquatic demon, they have a reputation and are known to grab the feet of waterfowl ducklings and goslings and pull them under to be eaten.

When the young turtles hatch in August, they are only about half an inch long with faces only a mother could love. Immediately after hatching, they head off as a group, tracing their mother’s direction to the nearest water before predators can snatch them up. They were of course brought into life by a very selective parent. After breeding on land, she was able to store the sperm of her mate for a long waiting period until she sensed by instinct her reproductive system and environmental conditions were favorable.

Snapping turtles also have the most astounding temperature-dependent sex determination. Scientific tests prove that eggs incubated at about 68 degrees Fahrenheit produce only females, 70 to 72 degrees both males and females, and 73 to 78 degrees only males. They emerge from the leathery containers by using a small egg tooth to break the shells. Once they get bigger and their shells harden, their chances of living as long as ten years will greatly improve. But throughout their early lives, the odds are stacked against them and less than ten percent of eggs laid grow to maturity. Yet they are said to be primordial, a term meaning reproducing in their original form and re-enacted unchanged over millions of years.

We learned at an early age in science class that the first emergence of living forms on Earth crawled up out of a sea best described as a fertile source of a primordial soup. On a warm day in May, your casual route of travel may cross paths with a snapping turtle’s re-enactment of this ancient reproductive journey. May I suggest you do not judge your cause to disrupt or interfere in any way. Coming to light and unfolding across a country road for all to see is a moving link in the unbroken chain of survival renewed since the beginning of time on Earth.

By George B. Emmons