MNHM After-school Programs

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The Marion Natural History Museum Fall 2016 After-school programs include:

September 28: Harbor Tour. Take a tour of the harbor while it’s still warm. We will also be using the seining net to collect a few critters for the tank before they all move out to sea. Please bring a life jacket that fits, bring a suit if you want to help net, and please wear a jacket – it’s always colder on the water.

October 5: Insects with Donna Bernier. Donna is a biologist who has spent many years working with insects. She will be introducing us to the wonderful world of these fascinating and important little creatures.

October 26: Rock-Hound 101. Jim Pierson will be in to talk about his passion – rocks and minerals. A former geologist, Jim continues to be passionate about rocks and minerals. He will be sharing his interested with us by looking at some specimens from the museum’s collections as well as his own.

November 9: Cranberries. This fruit has been a valuable product from the southeastern Massachusetts area for many years. Dawn Gates-Allen of the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association will be introducing us to the life of a bog-owner and the many ingredients that go into providing this important fruit.

December 21: Nature craft party. Our annual event is always a popular program. We will be having some fun using natural and recycled materials to make gifts for the holidays. Light refreshments will be served.

To register for these programs, please go to our website www.marionmuseum.org, and keep checking the website for our new archaeology series on Saturday mornings in November.

Friends of Plumb Library

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The Friends of Plumb Library will hold their annual book sale on Saturday, September 24 from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm at the Fellowship Hall of the First Congregational Church, 11 Constitution Way, Rochester. Books, CDs, DVDs, games, and more will be on sale at great prices. The Junior Friends will also be holding a bake sale at the same time. Donations for the book sale may be left at the library during business hours until Thursday, September 22 at 5:30 pm. Volunteers are needed for set-up on Friday, September 23 and during the sale on Saturday, September 24. Please call the library at 508-763-8600 or drop by to sign up. Volunteers receive 50% off their purchases. For more information, call the library or email info@plumblibrary.com.

Parenting Strategies Workshop

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Many thought-provoking ideas will be presented during this four-session parenting program. They will assist parents in managing the many issues encountered during adolescence. The program is designed for parents of children in grades 5-9.

A major focus will be examining effective and ineffective methods of discipline, the different styles of parenting, a method to use in resolving conflicts, and many other useful strategies. Appropriate videos will be presented.

The presenter, James Fitzpatrick LICSW, will share his 40 years of experiences working with parents and children in a child guidance clinic and as a School Social Worker at the elementary and secondary levels.

Meetings will be held at the Old Rochester Regional Junior High School on Thursday evenings, October 20, October 27, November 3 and November 10 from 7:00 – 8:30 pm.

To register, call 508-758-4928 by October 13 and ask to speak with Ms. Julie DeSousa (or email juliedesousa@oldrochester.org), 7th Grade Guidance Counselor. Enrollment is limited.

Sippican Adopts Parent Outreach Program

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The Marion School Committee and two teacher leaders hope that a new parent outreach program called ANCHOR will connect the school and families who otherwise might not be inclined to visit or participate in school events.

Teachers Lisa Dix and Lisa Horan presented the school committee with an outline of the program that aligns with the school district’s strategic goal for social/emotion learning, which includes more community and family outreach. The program goal is to ultimately support in-school instruction from both the school and home setting.

Dix and Horan said they had noticed that some parents have an aversion to coming to the school. Their solution is to try to construct a more relaxed and friendly environment to better welcome these parents.

Monthly meetings on a number of different topics have been scheduled, and refreshments and other incentives, such as gift cards, would be offered to garner interest in attendance.

“We’re hoping that it is going to be a success,” said Dix. She said the two are hoping for a positive turn out in numbers. “But you never know,” Dix said.

School committee member Michelle Smith liked the idea.

“I think it’s great,” said Smith. “I love that you’re growing as strong leaders at Sippican and taking this initiative.”

School Committee Chairman Christine Marcolini said, “And this is your time. This is something extra that you are doing above and beyond your typical school day…. I think it’s excellent.”

There have been nine meetings scheduled so far, all at different venues:

September 21: Back to School Celebration at Village Apartments;

October 19: Attendance/Homework How-To’s at the Sippican School Community Room (babysitting offered);

November 16: How to Read the New Report Card at Tabor Admissions Room (babysitting offered);

December 21: Tips on How to Read With Your Child at Village Apartments (babysitting offered);

January 12: Guest Jessica Minahan at Sippican School (babysitting offered);

February 15: School Terms and Acronyms/Technology at the Marion Rec Room (babysitting offered);

March 15: Mindfulness at Sippican School Community Room (babysitting offered);

April 26: The Power of a Growth Mindset at Tabor Admissions Room (babysitting offered);

May 24: End of year Celebration at the Marion Rec Room.

All meetings are from 6:00 – 7:00 pm.

The next meeting of the Marion School Committee is scheduled for October 5 at 6:30 pm at the Marion Town House.

By Jean Perry

 

Selectmen Approve Special Town Meeting Warrant

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The Marion Special Fall Town Meeting Warrant was closed and approved by the Board of Selectmen on Friday, September 9, during a special morning meeting in the town administrator’s office.

The warrant features five articles, including one to accept the donation of the VFW building at 465 Mill Road, Route 6.

The article, if approved by Town Meeting voters, would authorize the selectmen, in the best interest of the Town of Marion, to take any and all necessary steps to acquire the building and the property on which it sits.

During a prior meeting of the Board of Selectmen, board members and Town Administrator Paul Dawson all agreed that the donation was a generous one. It would serve the town well as a senior center/community center and would continue to serve as the town’s polling station for future elections.

Dawson said that once the article is approved, it would be a “quick closing to turn it over to the town.”

Also on the warrant, Article 1 authorizes the transfer of $20,000 from the treasury (free cash) to the Planning Board for consulting services to assist in the Master Plan development.

Article 2 appropriates $475,976 for the Marion Town House Building Committee to complete the construction design of town house renovations.

Article 3 would allow the Board of Selectmen to enter into negotiations for a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) agreement with Clean Energy Collective of Worcester, MA for the solar array located off Tucker Lane.

Selectmen stressed that this would not mean that the solar developer would pay any less in taxes to the town; it would, however, spread those payments out more evenly over the life of the project, making payment amounts more predictable.

Article 4 is the VFW building article, and Article 5 authorizes the Board of Selectmen to petition the General Court to allow half of the town’s receipts from the power purchase agreement with Future Generation Wind to be invested into the town’s OPEB (Other Post Employment Benefits) trust fund, with the other half of receipts going into an Energy Efficiency Account to support further efforts on behalf of the Town to conserve energy, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, and reduce the Town’s carbon footprint and impact on global climate change.

Dawson estimated that the annual amount in receipts from the wind project would be between $80,000 and $100,000.

The Marion Special Fall Town Meeting is scheduled for Monday, October 24 at 6:45 pm at Sippican School.

By Jean Perry

 

Marion Cultural Council Seeks Fund Proposals

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The Marion Cultural Council has set an October 17 deadline for organizations, schools, and individuals to apply for grants that support arts, humanities, science programs, and cultural activities in the community.

These grants can support a variety of artistic projects and activities in Marion – including exhibits, festivals, field trips, short-term artist residencies, or performances in schools, workshops, and lectures.

Marion Cultural Council is part of a network of 329 Local Cultural Councils serving all 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth. The LCC Program is the largest grassroots cultural funding network in the nation, supporting thousands of community-based projects in the arts, sciences and humanities every year. The state legislature provides an annual appropriation to the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, which then allocates funds to each community.

This year, the Marion Cultural Council will distribute $4,400 in grants. Previously funded projects include: a STEM field trip for local Cub Scouts; Elizabeth Tabor Summer Reading Programs; Marion COA “An Evening with Robert Frost”; Marion Natural History Museum Exploring New England Stone Walls; Tri-County Music Association, Inc. Concert Series; and many other local projects that benefit the residences of Marion.

To ensure the council is funding priorities of the community, a community input survey will be available to residences in Marion. This survey will be reviewed before the committee votes on this year’s grant proposals. Please be sure your voice is heard.

The Massachusetts Cultural Council has announced the grant application process has moved online and paper applications will no longer be accepted. Application forms and more information about the Local Cultural Council Program are available online at www.mass-culture.org. For local guidelines and complete information on the Marion Cultural Council, contact Kristen Saint Don-Campbell at 508-748-3129 or MarionCulturalCouncil@gmail.com. The Council will also be holding a question and answer session for the public on Thursday, September 22 from 6:30 – 8:00 pm at the Elizabeth Taber Library. Please join us with any and all questions regarding the grant process and the council.

Committee Favors Fewer Meetings

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It did not take much convincing on September 12 for the Mattapoisett School Committee to acquiesce to the school administration’s proposal to consolidate meetings and switch to an every-six-weeks meeting schedule instead of meeting once a month.

With very little discussion and relatively few questions, the school committee members unanimously agreed that the proposal was, in general, a good idea.

Facing 44 school committee meetings throughout the school year, Superintendent Doug White stated that eliminating just two meetings from the annual schedule would have a tremendous impact on the school administration, which must attend the monthly meetings of four school committees, plus a joint school committee meeting every other month.

“We’ve always talked about potentially addressing or combining meetings,” said White. “What we have here is a proposal that would take away two meetings for the year…” He later added, “So it’s two less nights out for the central administration … and less taxing on the administrative team for nights out.”

An added benefit would be that, should the school committee cancel a meeting due to winter weather or a light agenda, the committee would meet within six weeks instead of eight, White said.

The concept of possibly ‘piggybacking’ meetings the same day as other sub-committee meetings, such as the Policy Sub-Committee, was deliberated, yet several committee members voiced concern over their inability to attend earlier meetings, so for now the committee will meet every six weeks.

“I think this is a great idea,” said School Committee Chairman James Higgins.

The committee also decided to switch its regular meeting time from 7:00 to 6:30 pm.

Also during the meeting, School Business Administrator Patrick Spencer announced that the school district finished off fiscal year 2016 with a monetary surplus of $157,000. Spencer said the funds would likely be turned over to an account to fund future unexpected special education costs.

White also told the committee that a new online system adopted to assist the school district in filling substitute teacher and paraprofessional positions is a success so far.

With AESOP, potential substitute teachers and paraprofessionals can more easily access jobs as they are posted in real time and pick and choose the ones that fit into their specifications.

“We haven’t had a substitute [position] that hasn’t been filled as of yet [this school year],” said White. “It’s working pretty good so far.”

In other matters, contracts for new security entrance vestibules for the two schools have gone out to bid, and construction will likely take place over the winter break or February break, White told the committee.

The next meeting of the Mattapoisett School Committee is scheduled for October 24 at 6:30 pm at the Center School cafeteria.

By Jean Perry

 

Marion Adopts Synthetic Drug Ban

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During a public hearing (sans any public) on Tuesday, September 13, the Marion Board of Health voted in favor of adopting a bylaw that outlaws the sale and purchase of synthetic drugs – synthetic marijuana, synthetic stimulants, and synthetic psychedelics/hallucinogens – but not without a moment of hesitation beforehand.

The bylaw reads, “No person shall sell, offer to sell, distribute, gift, or display for sale synthetic drugs, incense, spice, bath salts, plant food or any blend are also included.”

The ban includes any of the synthetic drug substances manufactured for inhalation, ingestion, or any other delivery systems.

The board debated the practicality of adopting such a restriction after board member Jason Reynolds relayed Police Chief Lincoln Miller’s opinion on the matter.

“His response was that he did not want to go against the town counsel’s opinion that was rendered in January,” said Reynolds, alluding to Town Counsel Jon Whitten’s advice that the Police Department should not be the enforcing authority without a Town Meeting vote. “The other issue that he raised was the fact that there’s going to be a ballot initiative in less than two months’ time … on whether or not marijuana would become legal.”

The chief’s question was whether or not a statewide legalization of marijuana would essentially make the board’s regulation invalid.

“I see where he’s coming from,” said board member John Howard. He later added, “I think we have to honor his opinion as a committee, as a representative of the town until such time as there’s another opinion…”

Reynolds, however, managed to sway Howard’s opinion.

“My personal opinion is that I would hope, just like tobacco products are legal, that even if marijuana became legal in this state, we as a board of health would be able to determine how it was sold in our community just as tobacco,” Reynolds said. “I’m perfectly fine moving forward and regulating the sale of synthetic cannabis and other synthetic drugs and be responsible for policing the few stores in town that exist right now.”

“I agree with you, Jason,” said Howard. “I think we can take that on.”

Reynolds responded, “I think we wanted to try to regulate it as much as possible…. The first thing to do would be to regulate this and build from that.”

The vote to ban the synthetic drugs was unanimous.

In other matters, as the board prepares to move forward on a ban of all flavored tobacco and cigarettes, including menthol cigarettes, Howard, who was absent from the prior meeting when the bulk of the menthol cigarette ban took place, went on the record as saying he opposes the motion, given that more than one source warned the board that the tobacco industry would likely sue the town as a result.

Cheryl Sbarra, senior staff attorney for the Massachusetts Association of Health Boards, said on August 23 that Marion would only be the third or possibly fourth municipality in the entire country to attempt to ban menthol cigarette sales. The tobacco company sued the other cities and towns, and only Providence prevailed in the higher court due to language that restricted the sale of menthol cigarettes to “adult only” venues.

In Marion, with no “adult only” venues of its own, the Board of Health would be passing a virtual ban on the menthol cigarettes.

Town Counsel Jon Whitten also cautioned the board on including menthol cigarettes in the town’s restriction of the sale and purchase of flavored tobacco and nicotine products, but board members Betsy Dunn and Reynolds feel confident that, should a lawsuit threaten the town, the board could rescind the menthol cigarette language from the regulation, or perhaps seek pro bono legal advice from organizations that specialize in fighting the tobacco industry.

“I don’t like to risk litigation,” said Howard. “I don’t want to put the town in that position…. I will go on the record as opposing [the risk of litigation].”

After further discussion, the board decided to hold off on taking any action on the menthol cigarette ban until it can speak with Sbarra to get a sense of the scope of the legal risks and whether the town might solicit enough support from anti-tobacco organizations.

“If [Sbarra] can’t get that info to us, then I think it would be fiscally irresponsible to go into a fight with the tobacco industry,” said Reynolds. “But I do not want to have menthol flavoring in our town.”

The public hearing for the flavored tobacco ban is tentatively planned for October 11.

The next scheduled meeting of the Marion Board of Health is for September 27 beginning at 4:30 pm at the Marion Town House.

By Jean Perry

 

Mattapoisett Firefighters Chowder Competition

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The second annual chowder competition hosted by the Mattapoisett Firefighters Association will be held on September 18 from 12:00 to 4:00 pm behind the Knights of Columbus in Mattapoisett. Heavily attended last year, the Firefighters Association has broadened the event with more kids’ activities than last year in anticipation of a larger turn out.

Split into two categories – Public Safety and Professional Establishment – there will be various batches of chowder to sample. Judges will choose their top three favorite chowders in each category and there is also a people’s choice award in each category. The Mattapoisett firefighters will have affordable hot dogs and burgers ready on the grills for those who want to enjoy the event but aren’t too keen on chowder.

“We are looking forward to building on the success of last year’s event. With the help of our sponsors, we are able to bring it to the next level this year and hold it under large tents and add more kid activities to make this a family-friendly event to raise money for a great organization,” said Tim Murray, a Mattapoisett firefighter who is helping to organize the event.

In addition to great food and fun kids’ activities, there will also be raffles, antique fire apparatus, music, and more. The funds raised by this event help to train the firefighters, teach fire safety and prevention to Mattapoisett residents, and purchase and donate needed fire equipment, along with other charitable endeavors.

“This is such a great event, not only for our association, but for our whole community. It brings all the Fire Department staff together to help raise money for a great cause while having a lot of fun,” said Mattapoisett Fire Chief Andrew Murray.

Visit the Mattapoisett Firefighters Chowder Competition Facebook page for more information and updates. Tickets are $10 with kids under 12 free and are available at the Mattapoisett Fire Station during normal business hours as well as at the door.

Contemplating a Caterpillar

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There are some things in this world that simply stop you dead in your tracks. Some things just hold us still, command a moment of astonishment, a gasp, a pause, a sigh, a silent exultation. More often than not, for me, these things are almost always found in nature.

Little things that become momentous and meaningful, yet are almost always forgotten until the next one. Like the first glance of a big full moon hanging low in the sky that hits me like a bam! Making eye contact with a deer in the woods and watching it dash off, dancing off into a dream after it’s gone. A startled heron taking flight, circling over like a prehistoric bird. The sight of a double rainbow at the end of a crappy day.

This time, it was a monarch caterpillar devouring a milkweed leaf in a meadow in Mattapoisett that had me standing at a halt before it. Risking the wrath of the low-lying poison ivy, I moved in closer and focused my camera lens upon her; black and gold, wide and round, her fat, juicy body bulged as she ate her way through this phase of her existence, just one of the myriad faces of the manifold mystery of the monarch.

This time, I knew more than she, I thought. I knew what she was going to be one day soon, what she would look like, her very nature as I captured her form in the moment with my camera click, studying each end of her, all of her mine for the moment.

I conjured up a quick poem and whispered to her, “Butterfly, flutterby, right now, the hungry caterpillar, with no thought other than this leaf. Within a fortnight, you will leave this place as the meadow falls to grief.”

The lengths it will go to, the heights it will flutter through, the struggle that it will endure to perpetuate the mystery of birth, rebirth, everlasting life, of transformation, the very essence of living.

Perhaps that is what fascinates us about monarchs, about butterflies in general. A child will chase her, intuiting the creature’s inviolability in nature and, in the collective consciousness, like all of us, will strive to emerge in life as a butterfly and fly.

This caterpillar I beheld will never know the deadened winter meadow of her birth, nor will she return. But her descendants will and, if I am blessed, I will, myself now only a mere hungry caterpillar devouring life’s experiences and taking nourishment from them in this phase in my own existence, greet them next year on this very spot, feeding on the leaf that will replace this leaf, and I, standing inside the unending circle and finding myself an eternal part of it.

By Jean Perry

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