Gateway Youth Hockey

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Squirts: The Gateway Gladiator Squirt team continued their strong play with two wins this weekend. On Saturday, the team faced off against Duxbury and fought to a 12-2 win. On offense, Tommy Clavell led the team with five goals and an assist. Brayden Cannon, Brayden Hathon, Liz Kilpatrick (2), Ben Hebbel, Kevin Place, and Patrick Tripp all contributed goals. The Gladiators followed up Saturday’s win with their toughest test of the season against Pembroke on Sunday morning. The team got great goaltending from Ryan Killion and strong defensive play from Mike Brown early on to help hold on until the offense was able to mount an attack in the second and third periods. Cannon led the offense with five goals while Hebbel and Hathon each had one goal in the 7-1 win. The goal scoring was supported by a great passing game led by Bree Killion, Kilpatrick and Clavell, all with two assists and Place with one assist.

Pee Wees: Gateway Gladiators Pee Wees had their season opener on Saturday versus KP Walpole. Matthew Paling put Gateway on the board followed by a goal from Ty Rebeiro and one from Nate Ribeiro with an assist from Lucas DeMoranville. Walpole and Gladiators were both playing a defensive game, but Rebeiro was able to score two more with assists credited to Ribeiro and Jacob Hebbel. Paling came in to find the back of the net one more time assisted by Rebeiro. Ryker King had a phenomenal game in net, also facing a penalty shot to secure the shut-out, ending the game 6-0.

On Sunday, it was Gladiators Pee Wees versus Barnstable for an early morning game. Gladiators were ready to go and Rebeiro, unassisted, put Gateway up less than 15 seconds into the game. Soon after, he added another assisted by Connor MacLeod. Paling added one with assist from MacLeod. In the second, Lucy Murphy found the net assisted by Ribeiro, Rebeiro added three more goals with assists from Matthew Stone and Lucas DeMoranville, and Joe Urnek added another for the Gladiators assisted from Ribeiro. In the third period, Gateway was still receiving a pressured game from Barnstable but kept skating. Ribeiro scored a goal assisted by MacLeod, Urnek got two more, both assisted from DeMoranville, and Stone put one up with assist from Macleod. Thomas Leger had a great game in net with a final score of 12-1.

Bantams: Although the 8-3 score may not reflect it, the Gateway Gladiator Bantams faced their toughest challenge of this young season on Sunday against a feisty Plymouth team. The Gladiators were short handed at the start of the game, causing some shuffling of the lines, and Plymouth took advantage, scoring the game’s first two goals. With the Gladiators down two goals, Quirino doCanto stole the puck in his own end, skated through the Plymouth team, and beat the goalie for his first goal on the day. Plymouth would erase that goal a few minutes later, moving their lead back to two goals. The Gladiators would pull within a goal when Tyler Lovendale found the back of the net on a feed from Robert Maloney and doCanto. Defenseman Will Goldman would tie the game with a wrist shot from the blue line, deflected in past the goalie, with assists going to Zach Barris and Ethan Carpentier. The second period ended in a 3-3 tie, but just 10 seconds into the third Lovendale put in the go ahead goal, assisted by Maloney and doCanto again. The score would remain that way until a power play with 58 seconds, when doCanto would go on a scoring frenzy. He would score three goals in less than 40 seconds, assisted by Liv Fryer on one and Lovendale on two, while the other was unassisted. Lovendale put the exclamation point on the game with an unassisted goal just before the buzzer sounded. Alex DeMarco had an outstanding game in net, making 13 saves.

Register to Vote

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October 19 is the last day to register to vote in the 2016 national election. The League of Women Voters urges all citizens, 18 years of age or older, to exercise their right to participate in the important decisions facing our nation this year. If you have not voted before, registration is easy and can take place at your Town Hall, by mail or online. Full information can be found online at sec.state.ma.us or from the Registrar of Voters in your community.

If you have changed your address since the last time you voted, you must make that correction by October 19 as well, and can do so using the same means as above. This re-registration is especially important on Election Day since you will be asked to identify yourself at the polls by your address first, then your name. This is a new procedure and one that has proven to be more efficient for the poll workers and thus a time-saver for you.

Finally, if you wish to enroll as an unaffiliated – formerly independent – voter (no specific political party), you should check the No Party box on the registration form.

As the League has said for many years, “Democracy is not a spectator sport,” so be sure you are registered and prepared to vote on Election Day, Tuesday, November 8.

Dorothy T. Marini

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Dorothy T. Marini, 87, of Marion, died Friday, September 30, 2016, at Sippican Healthcare Center after a long illness.

Dorothy was the wife of the late Joseph A. Marini; they enjoyed 54 years of marriage until his passing in 2007. She is survived by daughter Susan (Marini) Nielsen and husband Butch of Fairhaven; daughter Paula Marini of West Wareham; and daughter Arlene Marini of Mattapoisett. Her and Joe’s life was centered around the love of family which included grandchildren Marina, Jillian and Matthew Nielsen; Joseph Risher and his fiancée Jessica Levee; A.J. Risher; and Nicole and Nolen Enos; and her great granddaughter, Leila Risher.
She was the mother of the late Joseph J. Marini.

Mrs. Marini was born and raised in Chelsea, MA. She worked as a telephone operator for many years before she met Joe They married and moved to Marion in 1952 where Dorothy and Joseph provided a warm and loving home to their family and to all who knew them.

She worked at the Harbor Beach Club and then worked at St. Luke’s Hospital for many years until her retirement. She was always very involved in her children’s and grandchildren’s lives. Her absence will be sorely felt by her family.

A celebration of Dorothy’s life will be conducted at the Wickenden Chapel on the grounds of Tabor Academy, Spring Street, Marion on Thursday, October 6, at 11:00 am. Burial will follow in Evergreen Cemetery, Marion. Visiting hours will be on Wednesday, October 5th from 4:00 to 8:00 pm at the Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home for Funerals, 50 County Road, Mattapoisett. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to Damien’s Place Food Pantry, 3065 Cranberry Hwy B230, East Wareham, MA, 02538. For directions and guestbook, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.

obit_marini

Mattapoisett Lions Club

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Mattapoisett Lions Club will hold a dinner meeting at the Pythagorean Lodge Hall, 13 Spring Street, Marion, on Wednesday, October 12 at 7:00 pm. This meeting is open to men, women and couples from Mattapoisett and Marion area. Reservations are required; email lionsmembership1@gmail.com or call 508 758 2345.

Marion’s Energy Management Committee

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To the Editor:

Beginning in mid-August, all of Marion’s municipal electricity has come from wind. If you’ve driven to the Cape lately, you’ll have seen the four new turbines spinning along Rte. 25 that are generating clean power from wind energy. Marion’s Energy Management Committee (EMC) sparked the agreement that brings this renewable electricity to our town, saving the Town a bundle of money – at least $80,000 per year. Not only are we now spending less on electricity, but the power from these turbines is reducing fossil fuel use by about 12,000 tons of coal per year, or enough electricity for about 2200 homes. In a world of gloomy headlines, this good news is a breath of fresh air.

This windfall can be leveraged to save the Town even more money by investing in projects to increase our energy efficiency. The EMC has proposed that half of the savings be used to create an Energy Efficiency Fund to pay for Town projects such as converting street lights to LEDs, replacing old boilers and air conditioners with new energy-efficient units in Town buildings, and buying or re-leasing the Town’s electric vehicles when their leases expire. Each investment idea will require approval by the Board of Selectmen, Finance Committee, and/or Town Meeting.

The Warrant for the Marion Special Town Meeting includes an article to authorize the Board of Selectmen to petition the General Court to allow some of the savings from our wind-generated electricity to be reinvested in further energy-efficiency measures that will save even more money. Please come to Town Meeting at 6:45 pm on October 24 at the Sippican School and vote “AYE” on Article #5. Let’s keep Marion sailing toward a greener future!

Jennifer Francis

Marion’s Energy Management Committee

 

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.

Tabor Academy Accepted into Independent School League

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Last week, Tabor Academy accepted an invitation to join the Independent School League (ISL), the oldest and one of the most competitive independent school athletic associations in the country. The school will officially join the league in the fall of next school year.

The ISL was founded in 1948 as the “Private School League,” with the help of founding member and former Tabor faculty member James Gowing. The league is comprised of 16 private schools in the Greater Boston area, all of which utilize a teacher-coach system throughout all of their varsity and junior varsity athletic programs. At its core, the ISL is committed to integrity, sportsmanship, and leadership in all of levels of competition.

“This is a group of schools that understand the key role athletics can play in student learning, and which works hard to create the best possible competitive and participatory athletic experiences for students – within the strong academic programs we all share,” said Tabor Head of School John Quirk.

The opportunity to join the ISL arose when St. Paul’s School of Concord, New Hampshire decided to leave the league after 43 years in favor of becoming a member of a Six School League with five other major New England independent schools.

“We applied to join the ISL because we believe that doing so will create better, more satisfying and more meaningful competitive learning experiences for our student athletes,” said Conan Leary, Director of Athletics, in a press release from the school. He explained, “ISL schools tend to be fierce competitors and there are tremendous and fun rivals in the group. However, it is rare for that competitiveness to over-shadow some essential truths: that it is in the process of competition, not its outcome, that student athletes best grow.”

For years, Tabor has had interest in joining the ISL, which Quirk describes as the “premier athletic and educational association in New England.” When applying for membership, a full team of Tabor administrators, board members, alums, and both current and former members of the athletic administration pitched in to shape a successful application.

“It was Tabor’s reputation for excellence, I think, that really made it happen,” said Quirk.

The ISL will provide substantial improvements to the athletic experience for student athletes at Tabor. On a practical level, the close proximity of the schools and defined structure of the league allows easier scheduling of athletic contests and less travel time for athletes and coaches. The bus rides to schools in Connecticut and New Hampshire, which often last over three hours one-way, will now be largely replaced by frequent visits to schools not much farther than an hour away.

From a competition standpoint, the ISL will provide a more competitive yet supportive environment for athletes at all levels of play. The longstanding reputation of excellence held by the ISL is one that Tabor will both benefit from and contribute to, adding its own flair of athletic philosophy into the mix.

While senior and tri-varsity student athlete Martha Peppes will never get the opportunity to experience Tabor athletics as a member of the ISL, she still feels honor and satisfaction for the acceptance.

“I am so thrilled that Tabor student athletes will be able to compete against such great teams,” said Peppes. “The ISL has always put forward teams of hard work, sportsmanship, and talent, all three things in which I believe Tabor imbues in its student athletes. When you see an ISL team on your upcoming schedule, it is always guaranteed to be a good game.”

Over the years, Tabor teams have competed against ISL teams in just about every sport. While facing off against an ISL team will be no new event for Tabor student athletes, the ability to compete for league honors and championships will be something no current member of the Tabor community has done.

At Tabor, where being a member of an athletic team during more than one season is not only recommended but required, the decisions made affecting the athletics at the school can have a positive influence on each member of the school community. Because of the strong relationship between academics, athletics, and community at Tabor, membership to the Independent School League creates a ripple effect into all parts of life at Tabor. For other member schools as well, the acceptance of Tabor into the league means acceptance of Tabor’s beliefs, actions, and culture into the collective body of the ISL. While pushback is seemingly eminent with a decision as major as this, there was noticeably a lack of such pushback in this acceptance.

“There are not many decisions I’m involved in that seem to have complete unanimity in them, but this felt that way to me,” said Quirk. “Both here at school and out and about New England – there was only excitement at the prospect of Tabor becoming part of the ISL.”

According to the school’s press release, “Tabor looks forward to hosting league contests and tournaments in its excellent traditional facilities (the Travis Roy Rink, the Fish Center for Health and Athletics, the G. Richard Duffy ’56 Turf Fields), while sharing some of the unique settings the school enjoys (Buzzards Bay for sailing and Kittansett Club in Marion for golf).”

By Jack Gordon

 

Complaints Filed Against Rochester ZBA

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During the September 22 meeting of the Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals, Chairman Richard Cutler and board members David Arancio, Richard Spirlet, and Tom Flynn discussed complaints that have been lodged against them to the Office of the Attorney General by Cathy Mendoza, 32 Hiller Road – complaints alleging violations to the open meeting law.

Mendoza’s complaint alleges that open meeting violations occurred during one of several public hearings regarding a special permit for Wellspring Farms and on a second occasion when there was the presence of a ZBA quorum during a site visit to the farm located at 42 Hiller Road.

Mendoza and several other abutters to Wellspring Farm have complained bitterly about noise and loss of peaceful use of their residential properties due to commercial activities on the farm.

Owned by Jim and Holly Vogel, Wellspring Farm has been operating since 2000 as an experiential mental health facility for children with compromised cognitive abilities. Neighbors had complained of increased traffic to and from the Vogels’ property, loss of privacy and use of their outdoor spaces due to clients’ vocalizations and close proximity to boundary lines, and smells from large manure piles.

During several ZBA hearings, abutters and the Vogels, along with supporters of Wellspring Farm, came out in force as the Vogels sought to have a special permit for the operation of a commercial business in a residential area heard. The Vogels prevailed and on September 8, they received a special permit with restrictions.

The complaints were received in the building department office on September 15.

The first complaint reads in part: “Specific persons alleged to have committed violation – Chairman Richard Cutler, David Arancio, Kirby Gilmore, and Davis Sullivan; violation description – three members of the ZBA scheduled an on-site visit.” However, four members were present constituting a quorum. Mendoza contends that discussions took place with Vogel on his property and that deliberations occurred outside a public hearing. Date of alleged violation was August 25, 2016.

The second complaint lists the following alleged violation: “Specific persons alleged to have committed violation – Richard Cutler, and town counsel Blair Bailey; violation description – town counsel suppressed public discussion of items publically requested by Chairman Cutler.” Date of said violation was August 26, 2016.

            Cutler responded to these complaints by saying, “I don’t understand the open meeting violation … there was no discussion on site, only questions and answers….” He went on to say, “Ms. Mendoza made the comment that people had been looking at her in her pool. I asked where was the pool … I couldn’t see it.” Cutler said he also asked Vogel to show him the manure location.

Cutler asked the board if they would like to seek legal representation in this matter. They voted in favor of seeking the town’s legal assistance.

In other business, a hearing for a special permit to convert a single-family dwelling to a multi-family dwelling that was filed by William Milka, 241 New Bedford Road, was continued until the next meeting of the ZBA.

The next meeting of the Rochester ZBA is scheduled for October 13 at 7:00 pm in the town hall meeting room.

By Marilou Newell

 

Notice of my Retirement

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Boards of Selectmen

Towns of Mattapoisett, Rochester, and Marion

Dear Members of the Board:

This letter will serve as a notice of my retirement from the position as Principal Clerk in the Veterans Office for the Towns of Mattapoisett, Marion, and Rochester effective November 25, 2016. It has been an honor to be an employee of all three towns.

I would be remiss if I didn’t thank the former Veterans Agent Harvey Blanchette for hiring me back in 1991. I would also like to thank the Town Administrators, Members of the Board of Selectmen, Barry Denham, Melody Pacheco, Members of the Veterans Council, and the Massachusetts Department of Veterans Services for their assistance over the years.

I will truly miss all of my wonderful co-workers in each town. Most of all, I will miss my veterans and their families. I admire and respect each and every veteran for their selfless service to our country. It has been an honor and privilege to have served them over the past 25 years.

Sincerely,

Paula M. Butterfield

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.

 

Old Hammondtown School Scholastic Book Fair

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Old Hammondtown School in Mattapoisett will hold its fall Scholastic book fair. The fair will be open to the public on Monday, October 3 from 5:00 to 6:30 pm. All sales are tax free and the proceeds benefit the school library. Come to support our school and get a head start on holiday shopping.

FinCom, Selectmen Make Warrant Recommendations

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The Fall Special Town Meeting warrant has been signed, sealed, and delivered, and on September 26, the Rochester Board of Selectmen sat with the Finance Committee to say ‘yay’ or ‘nay’ on recommendations for the eight articles.

Both the selectmen and the Finance Committee voted to recommend Article 1 to appropriate $10,000 to cover the cost of contracting a company to tidy up and codify the town’s bylaws.

During discussion over the article, FinCom Chairman Kristian Stoltenberg said former Town Administrator Michael McCue first brought the matter up as a priority, but the article was skipped over at the last town meeting when the only company to bid on the project was prepared to offer the town far more services for a higher cost than the town needed or could budget for.

Planning Board Chairman Arnold Johnson, present that night, requested that a representative from the Planning Board and the ZBA be allowed in on the bid selection process, which Selectman Brad Norse concurred was the right way to go. Selectmen Chairman Naida Parker said the cheapest and simplest method was the way to go.

Article 2 to fund a new air-conditioning system for the police station passed with no issues, with Stoltenberg stating that although the FinCom had initially approved funding for temporary repairs to the current system, he acknowledged that the A/C would not last another summer. The amount of the article, which the FinCom along with the selectmen recommended, is $27,000.

Article 3 is for supplementing four separate department projects: $1,500 for the town clerk’s office to restore permanent record books from the 1800s; $4,800 for money already spent on police station A/C repairs; $3,100 for a fire protection system at Senior Center; and $17,725 to cover an unforeseen increase in town insurance rates. Selectmen and the FinCom both recommended the article.

As for Article 4, the Finance Committee chose to refrain from taking a vote to either recommend or oppose $20,000 to fund a town hall/town annex study, preferring instead to hear what residents on Town Meeting floor would have to say about it.

“I tend to agree with him,” said Parker, although she was overruled in her position by Morse and Selectman Richard Nunes, who voted to recommend the article, with Parker abstaining from the vote.

Article 5 sets aside $32,000 to cover potential contract settlements with the town’s union personnel – contracts that will soon be negotiated. Selectmen and Finance Committee members recommended the article, unanimously. Everyone also recommended Article 6 to restore $67,000 back into the stabilization fund, which comes from FEMA reimbursements that finally were paid to the town to cover the winter of 2014.

The Finance Committee abstained from voting on Articles 7 and 8 as both of them pertained to the personnel bylaw.

Selectmen recommended Article 7 to amend and simplify the language pertaining to the process in which employees can file grievances and Article 8 to prolong the employee probationary period from three to six months.

The Fall Special Town Meeting is on October 17 at 6:45 pm at Rochester Memorial School.

In other matters, Town Administrator Suzanne Szyndlar said progress towards securing the electric cars and charging stations via grants the town has received from the state has been slowed, as the town continues to seek affordable bids.

The next meeting of the Board of Selectmen is scheduled for Friday, September 30, at 10:00 am at the Rochester Town Hall meeting room for the tax classification hearing with the Board of Assessors.

By Jean Perry