The general public was introduced to Marion’s new community/senior center this past Saturday, August 12, and the consensus is that it is wonderful, beautiful – perfect.

There’s just something about the smell of fresh paint and newly laid carpet, scents reminiscent of brand new starts, new beginnings, and of a space that has been created for folks to inhabit, live in, and enjoy together.

On Saturday, add in the scent of freshly brewed coffee and you got yourself a Marion Community Center Open House event that welcomed the general public inside to see the splendid transformation the Town of Marion facilitated, from VFW building to the now completely renovated community/senior center.

And when we say renovated, it’s renovated – entirely.

There’s a brand new, upgraded kitchen with a walk-in freezer that just blows you away when the door is opened. The shelves are empty, ready to be stocked with all the foods and fixings for the daily lunch program from 11:30 am – 12:30 pm.

Council on Aging Director Heather Silvia said lunches at the new center are now daily instead of the two days a week allowable at the Music Hall, the former site of most COA activities.

The COA serves about 10 to 20 people a day for the lunch. “But we’d love it to grow,” Silvia said. It’s a $2 suggested donation for lunch, she said, “But we never refuse service.”

Outside the kitchen in the expansive main space of the center, groups of tables are arranged, as well as a seating area for socializing, watching television, or playing one of the assortments of board games on the shelf. There’s also a pool table in the corner.

Off to the side is a quiet conference room with shelves of brand new books for everyone to enjoy, either inside the silent sanctum of the conference room or anywhere.

The restrooms gleam with smooth new tile, fresh grout, and new fixtures. And the office area to the south side of the building now houses the cubicles for the Council on Aging staff and the Recreation Department staff – all redone and revamped to precisely meet the Town’s needs in this new space gifted to the Town.

As many already know, the goal of bringing such a center for seniors to be served would never have been met without the generosity of VFW Post #2425, which disbanded last year after a steady drop in membership.

Instead of selling off the property, VFW members voted to transfer ownership of the property to the Town for the use of a senior/community center.

“I see an enormous change,” said VFW Post #2425’s last ever Commander Demi Barros. “Everything is great. I am so satisfied,” he added, “because I had a pretty hard time when we disbanded, and now seeing what it’s turned out to be here … for the seniors to have that place to go.”

Barros just hopes that more people will come out to utilize it, saying the program the COA has got lined up is a great one.

Board of Selectmen Chairman Jody Dickerson, overseeing the event, called it “the grand finale.”

“It’s a big day for Marion,” Dickerson said. Dickerson, also the Marion Recreation director, will now spend his fair share of time at the 465 Mill Road location now that his office is inside. “It’s something … that the [VFW] members wanted…. It’s all about the community.”

Town Administrator Paul Dawson was there too, although he wouldn’t take any credit for the facilitation of the process from deed transfer to day of open house.

“This is just a great day,” said Dawson.

As the public came and went, old and young and everything in between, compliments could be heard such as, “This is wonderful,” and “Wow!”

As she exited the building, Mary Gallini of Marion, who was providing exercise sessions with the seniors twice a week at the Music Hall, said the facility has really changed since the prior spaghetti suppers she’d attended at the old VFW hall.

“It’s perfect,” said Gallini. “It’s really perfect. Just look at it!”

Ellen Perry said she had in the past attended the chair yoga at the Music Hall and this was her first visit to the new center. “I’ll have to start!” she said, pleased with the center’s completion.

Although the center is ready to start serving seniors, there are still a few items on the wish list: an apartment-size stackable washer and dryer, 21 chairs with arms, six card tables, two six-foot buffet tables, greeting card carousel, bookshelves, a Keurig machine, commercial dishwasher, and side-by-side refrigerator/freezer.

Visit the Benjamin D. Cushing Community Center to find out about upcoming events and pick up a copy of the daily lunch menu. For questions, call 508-748-3570.

By Jean Perry

At the Plumb Library in Rochester, there are never too many ways to “Build a Better World” as this summer’s reading program continues into its final week.

For some people, especially for the younger ones, building a better world is an obsession of sorts – when you’re a ‘Minecrafter.’

For those unaware of the indie video game frenzy, Minecraft is a gaming sensation. They say to not let the seemingly crude graphics fool you into thinking they’re irrelevant – or simple – because any Minecraft player will tell you that the first-person view as one traverses the terrain of an imaginary world mining for materials for shelters to protect them during the dark and dangerous nights when zombies and skeletons emerge is anything but simple.

The building of the player’s world is limited only to his or her imagination – as it is in the three-dimensional world we inhabit.

On August 14, a large and lively group of kids converged inside the First Congregational Church of Rochester recreation room to watch “Jungle Jim” Manning merge Minecraft with Magic – and what resulted was an incomparable infusion of inflatable fun.

Using balloons, a quick wit, and his knack for keeping kids actively engaged and amused, Manning, who does children’s entertainment presentations at libraries all over the place, took this year’s summer reading program theme “Build a Better World” to a whole new level – fashioning it into a Minecraft-centered presentation, the idea of Manning’s 12-year-old nephew.

“About ninety percent of my performances are in libraries,” said Manning, calling it his niche.

Using his ballooncrafting skills, wacky sense of humor, quit wit, fast-paced and action-packed presentation style, along with a quirky Hawaiian shirt, Manning gets the kids engaged and keeps them engaged. He’s a fast talker – like auctioneer fast – and there’s never a pause between sentences. It keeps going and going, unraveling and leaping forward without skipping a step – and the kids just love it.

If Manning has learned anything over the 13 years he’s been performing for children, it is that the kids need to keep moving.

“I watch them and when I start to see them lean back or stretch … I get them up to jump, stretch, wave their hands in the air … they just need a little transitional break,” Manning said, adding, “It’s less about what you do and more about how you do it.”

And how did the Plumb Library patrons receive Manning? Judging by what the grownups saw, including Manning, they liked Manning more than just a little. After all, it was pretty much 100 percent participation and 100 percent fun.

“They were really great, great kids,” said Manning sincerely, complimenting the crowd on their enthusiasm as well as their manners.

Manning uses a lot of volunteers to help him with the performance, so much in fact that practically every kid gets a chance to participate, giving them the feeling that they are in some way “running the show” as Manning put it.

And speaking of shows, Manning’s are such a success that he has performed 123 shows since June 1. A lot more than he had in mind, Manning said.

But the show must go on, and Manning wants to keep it going – to libraries within all 50 states.

“Only forty-one to go!” said Manning excitedly.

With his passion for libraries coupled with the entertaining influence he has on children, Manning appears to be one of those “lucky ones” who has found his calling in life and answered it. Not only does he do his part to “Build a Better World” – “I feel like I’m making a difference.”

The performance was sponsored by the Cultural Council of Rochester, a group which Manning told the kids was “pretty awesome.”

By Jean Perry

For more than 50 years, Camp Massasoit has been a constant on the Mattapoisett shore, now in its third generation of summer campers.

But the old standby is quite spry for a member of the half-century club, and spending part of a morning there is a whirlwind of activity – singing and sailing, smiling and sweating, swimming and sketching.

In charge of this organic but organized chaos is Joe Marciszyn, who is in his fifth year as executive director of the parent Mattapoisett YMCA, and who is, of course, a Camp Massasoit alumni.

“When I came on here, they asked, ‘What do you like, what do you not like,’ and I loved everything that went on when I was a kid. So for me, it was just, to plus it up, to add more to it. That’s what we’ve been trying to do.”

During the morning announcements, as one of the counselors sings the “Banana Song,” Marciszyn makes sure to act out all the moves (as does his young son, a camper for the first time this year).

Calls of “Hi Joe!” greet him as he tours around the grounds, anchored by the beautiful main house that is iconic around these parts.

In one corner of the main house are the members of the performing arts camp, cramming in some rehearsals in advance of their first show the following day. Outside, down the hill, are the youngest kids working on crafts. In the fields behind, the older kids that make up the “sports group” run around in a large open area.

While there’s a hope that everyone gets to sample a bit of everything off the camp buffet, kids are allowed to choose the activities that they like best.

Towering white totem poles with arrows direct you to different activities and locations, and there is something different going on across every nook and cranny of the property (located behind Reservation Golf Course off of Route 6).

In the early morning portion, swim lessons are going on in the main pool, while budding young scientists look for crabs in the rocks by the ocean.

A bunch of kids are gathered around a pair of long, thin tables filled with pool balls, and although there are several attempts to explain the goal of the game, we’ll leave it as a camp mystery. There are traditional sports to be played, but there also seem to be more games that are unique to the camp itself.

There’s an outdoor reading area in a grassy oasis, and Marciszyn plans to add hammocks to enhance the experience. He’s excited about the bike path that is coming to play a part in the fun, and he speaks of it with great surety even though he notes it’s been on hold almost since he was a camper himself.

Kids gather in small groups and large, some structured, some not. A group of three boys are amassing materials for a fort, but they seem to be satisfied simply putting a thick branch between two trees and using it as a pull-up bar. There are a few loners doing their own things, all under the eyes of the many counselors (and C.I.T.s, counselors in training).

Counselors wear identifying YMCA T-shirts, and many of them – actually, most of them – were campers themselves at one point.

“I’d definitely say it’s over fifty percent,” Marciszyn said. “It’s great that we can grow some of our own staff. I think it really helps keep that tradition strong.”

While the camp isn’t the only thing happening at the Mattapoisett YMCA facility, it is the signature event of the season. And a lot of the work actually happens before and after the camp takes place (traditionally mid-June to the end of August).

With hundreds of campers, of which the overwhelming majority take part in physical activity, Marciszyn is proud of the camp’s status as American Camp Association certified.

“It’s over three hundred plus health and safety regulations to make sure our camp gets an A-plus rating, so that is pretty huge.”

It’s also one of the reasons the camp stays popular, even after five decades.

“Trust is an important thing. If we don’t have that, we don’t have a camp. So I think it’s that, and that the kids have a great experience here. We have a relationship with the parents, and with the kids, and I think everyone works together.”

With the tour complete, Marciszyn shakes hands and gets back to the main building. There’s lunch, and then archery, and then wall climbing, and the sailors will be returning to shore, and getting ready for the drama performance, and so on, and so on.

There’s no rest, not for the King of Camp. And Joe Marciszyn surely wouldn’t have it any other way.

By Jonathan Comey

Name: Jillian Zucco, Miss Massachusetts 2017

Age: 24

How she came to Tri-Town: Grew up and still lives in Mattapoisett.

Favorite place: Ned’s Point. “I like to run there, jump in the water and then keep running.”

What would you do as President of Tri-Town? “I would require everybody to volunteer a certain number of hours a year. How about fifty-two? One a week, right? Actually, I think a lot of people in our community are very volunteer minded.”

Have you ever seen a celebrity locally? Actually, wait, aren’t you a celebrity? “(Laughs) The Tri-Town area is so small, I knew a lot of people knew who I was. I think now that I’m Miss Massachusetts, people recognize me more. But mostly I don’t think it’s because I’m famous, I think it’s just that this is a close community.”

By Jonathan Comey

Mattapoisett’s Jillian Zucco is very excited about the chance to become Miss America in two weeks.

She’s also excited about John Quincy Adams.

“Part of the social media component in the Miss America program is ‘Brag About Your State,’ and so I immediately thought of Ned’s Point and the lighthouse,” said the 24-year-old Zucco during a rare moment of downtime this week. “And turns out that John Quincy Adams was a key player in allocating money toward the lighthouse.”

Adams, Zucco goes on to explain, represented Mattapoisett when the lighthouse was funded in the 1830s, believing it to be a necessary addition to the area’s thriving ocean-side economy.

If the sixth president of the United States isn’t frequently being name-checked by your average Miss America finalist, well, perhaps Jillian Zucco isn’t your average Miss America finalist.

In case you missed it, Zucco won Miss Massachusetts this July after finishing second two years in a row, and at the end of August she will head to New Jersey for two weeks of Miss America Pageant activities leading up to the September 10 main event (televised live on ABC).

“It just doesn’t feel real, still,” Zucco says. “For so long, I just saw the Miss America contestants as these larger-than-life people. But they are real, they are real people, smart and talented, with great platforms they are supporting. I think it’s important to be relatable, to be able to talk to everybody.”

Zucco recently had a conversation with reigning Miss America Savvy Shields, who gave her a glimpse of what life would be like if she were able to somehow outperform the other 50 contestants (don’t forget Washington D.C.) and become the 2018 winner.

“It’s obviously an amazing experience,” Zucco says. “She’s in a different state every 48 hours, she has a fully-paid-for place to live, but she says she never really is there. It’s crazy. She said there are times when you want to sleep in, you want to relax, you want to be sad, you know, be a normal person. But it’s one year, and it’s the most amazing year of your life.”

Winning, of course, is a longshot. Massachusetts’ representative has never won the pageant, but Zucco feels that she will be competitive in the two biggest deciding factors: interview and talent.

She says both were honed in Tri-Town where she was a product of Mattapoisett schools and performed as a singer in countless local shows from first grade through college.

“The school system is amazing,” Zucco says. “Going into college, in the UMass Dartmouth nursing program, I felt so prepared. It is rigorous and intense, and I felt like it was manageable when others were drowning. I credit it to the school system.”

She also performed as a singer and actress from elementary school through high school.

“I just sharpened so many of the skills I use competing in pageants and just in life.”

Zucco says a sendoff party held last weekend (benefiting Boston Children’s Hospital) was an extremely humbling experience, noting that people she had never met came out to wish her well.

“I am so grateful to the outpouring of support from the Tri-Town community,” she says. “I think that speaks to the spirit of people. When there’s something to be excited about or get behind, they turn out.”

Now a nurse on the South Coast after graduating from UMass Dartmouth, she enjoys the anonymity of the job.

“I don’t think people … suspect it if they see me,” Zucco says. “At the hospital, people that I work with obviously know, but my patients have no idea – it’s something I keep private.”

Zucco knows that pageants get a bad rap, but she’s long fought against that stigma with her actions, focusing on her platform of volunteering and just being a well-rounded person.

“People don’t always understand,” she says. “They think beauty pageants, not scholarship and service. The further I’ve gone with these, the more I’ve learned to just be myself. And it does feel amazing that people like who I am. I’ve learned that people like when you are honest, when you are yourself.

“Don’t think about what people want to hear, think about what you want to say.”