It stands like a vision from the past – a large square structure where dogs are trained, Boy Scouts hold meetings, and the life of rural Rochester moves slowly from one generation to the next. But the sign on the building tells a more important story – one that connects Rochester to the entire country: Rochester Grange #257.

On August 19, the Rochester Grange membership held its annual fair. On display were the best examples from local gardens and kitchens and of crafts made over the long winter months, the achievement of individual effort in a variety of categories.

The annual event gives residents and members the opportunity to show off their talents in growing vegetables and flowers as well as arranging them in decorative ways, hooking rugs, drawing and painting, canning produce, taking photographs, baking cookies and knitting blankets – the bounty from a community maintaining the principles of an agrarian society.

Herb and Sue LaFleur, respectively chairman and secretary of the Rochester Grange, were busy preparing for the annual ham and bean supper that follows the juried event.

Slowly wafting in the fan-forced air circulating the grange hall were red and blue ribbons attached to giant zucchinis or long stalks of gladiolas. Sue LaFleur said that most of the jurying took place the night before while other categories were completed that morning. The colorful displays certainly harkened back to an earlier time when horse-drawn carriages drew farmers from fields to join others in the annual harvest celebration. But LaFleur said granges were much more than just about farms.

“It began after the Civil War,” LaFleur explained. She said granges were started to help the struggling farmers after the war that had devastated the landscape both north and south of the Mason-Dixon line. “Today we get involved with legislation,” she said.

Rochester Grange also gets involved helping the local and larger community. “Every year, we give the third graders at Rochester Memorial School their own children’s dictionary in a program we call ‘Words For Thirds,’” LaFleur said. She said the dictionaries are something that the students look forward to and get to keep when the school year ends.

And the Rochester Grange’s compassionate consideration of others goes beyond the town lines. “We help with children who are taken into foster care.” LaFleur explained that the membership provides “hygiene bags” filled with such essential items as toothbrushes, soap, face cloths, and shampoo. “When the children are taken into DCF care, they have nothing.” The grange members also collect gift cards, which are distributed to the children. “The teens especially appreciate the cards.”

Regarding the early proactive work granges pursued, LaFleur said that in its history granges advocated for rural mail delivery, railroad expansions, and electricity through political action that influenced legislation. Lobbying on behalf of rural Americans continues at the national level, she said.

LaFleur seemed most proud to share that granges were one of the first organizations that granted women full membership. “Women were always allowed to vote, even before they were given the right to vote, and they could hold office in the granges too,” she said enthusiastically.

Considering that membership to granges has dwindled as family lifestyles have changed, the LaFleurs and the members of the Rochester Grange are steadfast in their belief that the work they do is important to the overall fabric of the community.

From the National Grange website we find the following: Every year, Grange members give thousands of hours to volunteer in their communities and raise millions of dollars for important causes. Grangers attend public meetings, inform themselves of local, state and national issues, and speak for the rights of all Americans, especially those who work in agriculture, producing our food, fuel and fiber (www.nationalgrange.org).

Grange halls throughout the country are also used for other community events and activities. Rochester’s Boy Scout Troop 31 holds their meetings in the Grange, which has opened its door to the Scouts for years. Both organizations recently received special recognition for their community work.

Active duty Rochester resident CW4 Daniel Ferreira, U.S. Army, gifted the two groups with a decommissioned American flag that was flown aboard a Pursuit marine vessel involved in Task Force ODIN in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The flag and accompanying citation honor the guiding principles of the two organizations.

The Rochester Grange meets on the second Wednesday of the month at 7:30 pm. “Everyone is invited,” LaFleur said with a smile. The Rochester Grange is located at 205 Hartley Road.

By Marilou Newell

On a perfect Saturday afternoon, Ted Brito watched his lovingly crafted radio-controlled model airplane circle Mary’s Pond.

As he used the controls on the RC unit to guide his mini-Cessna through various loops and turns with the joystick radio control unit, the plane gliding across a clear, blue sky, you could see how someone could happily do it all day.

“I’ve had this one maybe three years. Someone else built it, but they never flew it,” Brito said. “Some people are afraid to fly on water.”

Then, Brito tried what is a fairly routine rudder turn maneuver and … SPLASH! His Cessna divebombed into the middle of the pond, ending the relaxing afternoon for him.

“Another one for you!” someone called out to the two men in a boat whose job it was to recover crashed planes. When they got back to the shore, Brito’s plane was done for the day, but not in terrible shape; the other plane, however, was in two parts and would be going back into the shop for sure.

Brito was one of a crew of around 25 RC plane and flying boat enthusiasts who took to the shores of Mary’s Pond on Saturday for the John Nicolaci Memorial Float Fly.

“That’s three or four to go down today,” said Andy Argenio, New England vice president of the governing American Model Aeronautics organization (AMA). “Typically, it’s only one or two. Today, who knows why? Just chalk it up to the plane gods. They weren’t favorable today.”

“It’s a good crowd, very good. This is a good site,” said Gary Carreiro, who in addition to being president of the Bristol County chapter of the AMA is also the tax collector and treasurer in Marion. “We’ve had on occasion fifty, sixty planes in the air here, but this is a nice day.”

Flyers and a few spectators camped out on the hill eating lunch from a food truck and watched the planes and flying boats buzz through the air. At the registration stand was a near-life size standup poster of Nicolaci, the event’s namesake, who passed away in 2009.

Nicolaci was the owner of Cliftex Corp. and a Marion resident, and flew a PBR Mariner that was the standard by which all others in the club were judged. He had actually worked on the real thing during World War II, working for an aircraft factory in Maryland. He built a scale model here, and he flew it around the country – including a legendary 27-mile trip from New Bedford to Martha’s Vineyard, following behind with his controller unit on a boat.

“The first flight, he ran out of battery – not fuel – and it crashed,” Carreiro said. “And the Coast Guard showed up because they thought it was a real plane. And that’s typical.”

“So he rebuilt it and tried it again, and this time it was successful,” Argenio said. “He was a luminary in our field, years ahead of his time, and a wonderful guy.”

The AMA has 200,000 members and is sanctioned by the FAA. Like any hobby, the cost is up to the dedication (obsession?) of the participant.

“You can go out and fly a little foam flyer for five hundred dollars, or you can spend thirty to forty thousand dollars,” Argenio said. “We have a jet meet next week in Gardner, and we have a guy who comes in from New York, full-length trailer, oak-lined, a hundred thousand in planes, golf cart, everything. And he has someone drive him out to the middle of the field, watches his jet fly by at 200 miles an hour, has a drink, and that’s it.

“But it’s really something people enjoy, and there are plenty of different ways to enjoy it.”

By Jonathan Comey

It rained on Friday, August 18, the first day of the 2017 Rochester Country Fair. Many who turned out – those diehard contenders in the woodsmen competition, the scattered audience members in ponchos, Miss Plymouth County with her umbrella, and especially the food vendors who, despite the heavy downpours, still filled the air (sadly devoid of tractor diesel smoke) with mouthwatering smells of fried and grilled fair foods – were optimistic that the clouds would pass and let up. But they didn’t, and Friday at the Rochester Country Fair was a washout.

Yup, agreed Rochester Country Fair Committee Co-Chair Julie Koczera, the weather was a drag. But, “Even with a rainy Friday, those who did visit were prepared to get a ‘little’ wet and enjoy the events we had planned,” she said. And those tractor enthusiasts, even they got the show on the proverbial road (very, very muddy road), although the shows started a tad later than usual.

“Basically,” said Koczera, “if you visited the fair on Friday night, your expectations were nothing short of getting soaked, you made the best of it, had fun and enjoyed the band and good company.”

As Selectman Greenwood Hartley pointed out, the fair was “packed” on Sunday in particular, and the two remaining days of the fair, including the parade honoring the American farmer, which made its return this year after a year’s hiatus, were quite successful.

“We were happy with the attendance and support of those who visited and supported the fair this weekend,” said Koczera.

Selectman Naida Parker said she especially enjoyed the Saturday night wrestling featuring Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School Superintendent Aaron Polansky as a guest wrestler. On Monday she commented, “Mr. Polansky wrestled in college, and his father was a coach for the wrestling team for the Olympics.”

“He’s not a big man, but he made Rochester proud,” Parker said.

Selectmen Chairman Brad Morse commended the Rochester Country Fair Committee on another great year.

“They did an awesome job,” Morse said. “It was a great community event.”

The Rochester Police Department didn’t receive a single complaint from the RCF and not one call for trouble.

Friday’s washout was in no way a lingering lament for the Rochester Country Fair Committee, participants, or guests.

“The weather the rest of the weekend did not disappoint,” said Koczera.

And neither did you, Julie.

The Wanderer thanks the RCF Committee for its unending dedication towards making 2017 yet another successful year and for continuing the Rochester Country Fair tradition.

By Jean Perry