Healy Takes FinCom Chair

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            The Marion Finance Committee met on Wednesday, October 1 to go over various action items, including the reorganization of the committee with new appointments, discussion on the town’s Budget Timeline, and deliberation on the Special Town Meeting Warrant.

            It was announced at the beginning of the meeting that Shay Assad, not in attendance, would be stepping down as committee chair. Sean Healy was nominated and sworn in as the Finance Committee’s new chair with a unanimous vote. Healy recommended Assad become the new vice chair, though a decision couldn’t be made due to his absence. Healy explained Assad’s schedule has been busy, but “is gonna calm down next month, and he expects to be fully engaged in the budget process. Discussion on a vice-chair was tabled until the next meeting.

            Next, member David Herron volunteered and was subsequently nominated and confirmed as committee clerk with a unanimous vote. Prior to this meeting, GR Pitman and Mal Durkee were appointed as alternate members.

            Onto the meeting itself, chair Healy delegated work regarding the town’s budget, saying “I communicate with Mike Nelson and the School Committee; Tom (Crowley) would talk to police and fire; Fred (Mock) would work on civic, Dave (Herron) might do civic.” In planning like this, he’d like to have each member become an expert of a certain facet of the town’s budget.

            For the Fall Town Meeting, the Finance Committee agreed they should, similarly to last Town Meeting, offer recommendations towards the different articles to the Select Board. The Select Board will discuss and close the warrant on Tuesday, October 14 at the Marion Police Department Conference Room at 6:00 pm. A Town Meeting Review has yet to be scheduled. The Fall Town Meeting will be held on Monday, November 24 at 6:45 pm at Sippican School.

            The next meeting of the Marion Finance Committee was unscheduled at adjournment, but will be held in November.

Marion Finance Committee

By Sam Bishop

Finding Solace in Nature

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            Autumn is here, like an old friend arriving with ease and familiar comfort. Welcome back! Your return gives us much to be thankful for. Empty beaches to roam, comfortable weather and some of the most dazzling colors in nature.

            We know the signals – the orange, red, and yellow foliage that begins to blanket the landscape, the maples ablaze with color, and pumpkins appearing at farm stands.

            What comes to mind when you think about fall? I asked Suzanne – we’ve tallied many falls together since meeting in 5th grade – coincidentally she visited yesterday when I was thinking of this column. Her response: “Crisp mornings, sunny blue afternoons, fall festivals and hayrides and corn mazes, coastal bike rides, vineyard tours, apple picking, chili cookoffs, apple cider, and pumpkin latte.”

            We heartily agree – the sights, the smell and the taste of fall and the colors of the trees seen on the commute to work – all of fall’s present and past converge. When you grow up in New England it’s a much-cherished time. For many of us, it’s the sensory overload that is so captivating. Not all of it is about pumpkin-flavoring, but more the natural scents that fall brings – the decaying leaves, wood fires, crisp morning air, the orchard’s fallen apples fermenting. This morning’s mist, mingling with the crunch of fallen leaves, deepens the simple pleasures of the season. The quiet hush of birdsong has given way to the steady chorus of crickets.

            Gardening season is winding down, but there is still plenty to do and it’s much more comfortable now with temperatures hovering in the 70s. Now is the time to assess and to (in following the lead of our local squirrels) get everything inside that isn’t hardy. Any avid gardener knows that fall is time to take inventory of plants and also to make plans for alterations and expansions of borders.

            While clearing the withered remains of plants in a woodland garden yesterday, I instinctively considered ways to improve it. The understory of this garden is home to epimediums, bluebells, lily of the valley and other spring blooming wildflowers and ferns. I think it might be nice to add a companion to the fall-blooming Kirengeshoma palmata (yellow wax bells) to add more interest. I tackle the uninvited vines that have woven their way into the rhododendrons and mountain laurel. It becomes more than a few hours of work.

            Sometimes I think fall comes too quickly as there are things I forgot to do or didn’t quite get to yet. Like gathering seaweed to overdress the winter garden. Some gardeners go further – drying the seaweed, then combining it with fallen leaves and chopping them up (with the mower) and spreading it over the beds like a winter blanket. In spring it can be incorporated into the soil to add tilth.

            Fall is also the time to collect seeds of flowers and add them to the already numerous piles of labeled paper lunch bags. That reminds me I have to purge the shed again and replace a broken windowpane. I need two label seeds that I have saved. Divisions and decisions about how the garden will be shaped or changed next year happen now. Many of these flood my head – one such is creating a dahlia bed – I used to grow them, and I’ve missed these beauties.

            Autumn is also a time to take note of stone walls again – plants having receded or in some stage of decay. As I was taking in the laundry from the clothesline the other day, a section of wall caught my eye – a large cinnamon fern splayed out underscored by ivy and above them the shrubbery – now shedding its leaves… all of this backlit by the afternoon sun.

            Another great feature of fall is the blue slanted light. It doesn’t seem real. Notice how everything is sharply defined. It has a solitary quality. Fall is sort of like the goodnight kiss at the front door. There’s no follow up.

            Well, there is winter. But we’ll leave that alone for now. There are still pleasures to be had. Watching the bees rustle the blossoms overhanging our patio, I try to recall lines from the romantic poets.

            “To bend with apples the mossed cottage-trees,

            And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

            To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

            With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

            And still more, later flowers for the bees,

            Until they think warm days will never cease,

            For Summer has o-er-brimmed their clammy cells.”

             – from “To Autumn,” by John Keats

The Seaside Gardener

By Laura McLean

Rochester Republican Town Committee

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The Rochester Republican Town Committee will be meeting on October 13, at 6:30 pm, at the Ponderosa Sportsman Club, Acushnet. David Hughes, an Old Colony School Committee member, will be in attendance and will speak about the Old Colony Vocational building project. All are welcome to attend.

Town Election on Horizon

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            Rochester’s Select Board Monday approved two warrants for the November 18 Special Town Election. One will ask voters in the Old Colony Regional Vocational-Technical High School district (Acushnet, Carver, Lakeville, Mattapoisett, and Rochester) to approve a new school building. The other will be the town’s question seeking approval of a debt-exclusion override to fund its share of the new construction.

            The vote came as the board added its own take to that Election Day approval by motioning there be no early voting allowed in Rochester with the new school question “pending Town Counsel approval.” Town Administrator Cameron Durant urged this qualifier after noting this voting provision might not be legally allowed.

            Durant said, due to state mandates, the elections must be on separate warrants but on one date, and neither election can have a no-early-voting restriction. He agreed the questions Rochester voters are being asked to decide on are confusing and complicated and might need some separation. The new school building would mean a $288,000,000 borrowing measure the district’s five member towns would share in funding (with or without the help of a debt exclusion; that part is up to the individual town). Either way, Rochester’s two warrants must be run simultaneously.

            Durant said, however, Rochester’s Town Counsel is studying the matter further. That’s why his ultimate suggestion was the “pending Town Counsel approval” phrasing. Select Board member Brad Morse noted absentee voting will still be allowed either way.

            In other action, Durant announced a variety of grant awards the town has received. Rochester has been awarded a $66,000 Rural Development Grant to fund recodifying town bylaws. The results of this rewriting of town regulations will need to be approved at a Town Meeting, he said. Other new grants totaling $158,000 are funding new electric-vehicle charging stations ($50,000), library hotspots and digital access devices ($17,000), and Police Department radar guns (from a $25,000 traffic-safety grant). Durant said one of these new charging stations will be available for the public to utilize, for a cost.

            The board approved a $41,000 contract with Vadar for new financial software services.

            The board approved adopting a new wine and malt license law that will allow restaurants with this type of license to trade up to an all-alcohol license “pending Town Counsel approval.”

            The board appointed Sarah Jacques and Kathryn Tarkenton to the Cultural Council.

            The board appointed Keith Riquinha as a new associate member of the Zoning Board of Appeals.

            The next meeting of the Rochester Select Board is scheduled for Monday, October 20 at 6:00 pm at Town Hall, 1 Constitution Way.

Rochester Select Board

By Michael J. DeCicco

Upcoming Events at the Elizabeth Taber Library

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The Elizabeth Taber Library will remain closed on Sundays for the remainder of 2025.

            Join us in welcoming Jeff Belanger back to the Elizabeth Taber Library with Wicked Strange New England: Your Guide to Ghosts, Monsters, Oddities and Urban Legends from New England, Friday October 10 at 6:00 pm. Copies of Jeff’s newest work will be available for purchase during the program. No Registration required.

            The Banned Book Club will meet at the Library on Tuesday October 14 at 6:00 pm to discuss the horror classic Dracula by Bram Stoker. All are welcome to attend, find copies available at the circulation desk.

            There will be a break in regularly scheduled children’s programs between October 15 and October 24. Storytime and Afternoon Activities will be held as scheduled on Tuesday, October 14.

            School is out early on Thursday, October 23 and Friday, October 24. You can join us for Early Dismissal Lego Days from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm both days. Participate in our building challenges or free build.

            For more information on the Elizabeth Taber Library visit us at www.ElizabethTaberLibrary.org or email the library at ETLibrary@sailsinc.org. 8 Spring Street Marion, MA 02738. 508-748-1252.

Marion Special Fall Town Meeting

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The Marion Special Fall Town Meeting will be held on Monday, November 24, at 6:45 pm in the Sippican School Multipurpose Room.

            The Select Board will close the warrant at their Tuesday, October 14, meeting which will be held at the Marion Police Department Conference Room, 550 Mill Street, at 6:00 pm.

            The Select Board and Planning Board will hold an informational Special Town Meeting Warrant Review on Monday, November 17, at 6:00 pm in the Music Hall. The public is invited to attend.

Mattapoisett Special Town Meeting

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To the Editor;

            On October 5, Mattapoisett held a Special Town Meeting to consider a certified citizen petition – signed by 335 residents, nearly 10% of all registered voters – calling for a vote to rescind the May 12 action expanding the Select Board from three members to five.

Unfortunately, the meeting never voted on the substance of that question. Instead, a motion to postpone indefinitely was approved — a parliamentary move that ended debate and prevented a Yes-or-No vote on the issue.

            In other words, the meeting voted not to vote.

            The Moderator and Town Council acted within their understanding of procedure, but the effect was to silence discussion and deny citizens the vote they requested – an outcome that may follow the letter of the law but not the spirit of Home Rule.

            Our petition was not improper and did not challenge the legality of the May vote. It simply asked voters to reconsider a major change – a right guaranteed under Massachusetts law.

            A former State Representative claimed the speed of the earlier bill’s passage was “normal.” But the record shows the original Home Rule petition sat in committee for months before suddenly advancing and being signed into law on August 22 – just days after our petition was certified. That sequence was highly unusual and effectively preempted a local vote.

            Some say they “had the votes” anyway. But democracy isn’t about predicting outcomes – it’s about allowing citizens to decide. If opponents were confident, they should have welcomed a public vote, not blocked it.

            To those who signed but couldn’t attend, this shows why participation matters. When we don’t show up, others decide for us.

            No vote was taken on rescinding Article 34. The law expanding the board to five stands. But the question – whether Mattapoisett should remain with three, a model that has served us well – remains unanswered.

            Paul Criscuolo

            21 Beacon Street, Mattapoisett

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. All letters must be typed and submitted directly to: news@wanderer.com.

“It’s Alive! It’s Alive!!!”

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            This past Tuesday, the Mattapoisett Free Public Library continued their October Frightfully Fun Film Fest. This week was James Whale’s Frankenstein from 1931.

            This version of Frankenstein was the first time Victor Frankenstein’s monster was put in a major motion picture. The film, based on a 1927 play of Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, spawned numerous sequels over the next 15 years. Boris Karloff, or “Karloff the Uncanny,”played the monster in three films.

            At the library that night, the temperature had finally started to cool, and the sun began to set. A projector and pop-up screen were set up on the front lawn, and those looking for true chills showed up with lawn chairs, blankets, and popcorn to watch; some passersby slowed down their stroll too. The famous “it’s alive!” could be heard down on Church Street. If only there was a thunderstorm to complete the immersion!

            This continuing series of spooky films will grace Mattapoisett on Tuesdays this month. The next movie will be Blackbeard’s Ghost from 1968.

Mattapoisett Frightfully Fun Film Festival

By Sam Bishop

Five-Member Select Board Upheld

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            When the smoke cleared on October 4, 2025, at Old Rochester Regional High School, site of Mattapoisett’s historic, one-article Special Town Meeting, more than 500 voters slowly poured out the doors and into what remained of a brilliant fall day. They had shown up in numbers almost never seen at town meetings, and they had participated in what was dubbed the purest of democratic activities – a town meeting.

            Voters came out to say “yes,” we want a five-member Select Board or “no,” three is working fine. They came to either affirm what the May Town Meeting had voted – for a five-member board (subsequently becoming law in August after it was processed through the state legislature) – or to try and unwind the May 12 Town Meeting vote.

            Paul Criscuolo, author of the Special Town Meeting Citizens’ Petition and president of the Mattapoisett Republican Committee, told the audience that voters had prevailed upon him to write a Citizens’ Petition challenging the May vote. He and his supporters believed that the May vote had been somehow flawed because so many voters had left the meeting after Article 33 passed, leaving some voters unable to voice their position.

            Before proceedings could begin, however, long lines waited up to 30 minutes to check in. The meeting began 37 minutes late.

            Criscuolo said that voters on that May night had not had sufficient time to weigh Article 34 or ask questions of the petitioners. He said that the vote was “called” from the floor which stopped the debate. Those in favor of keeping a three-member board felt the author of Article 34 had rushed the vote that ultimately was in favor of a five-member Select Board.

            The supporters of Article 34 held that an expanded Select Board would bring greater diversity, would tap into heretofore untapped talent that could help the town and bring greater diversity to the decision-making process.

            Criscuolo and his supporters believed the change would bring chaos to the Select Board process, and possibly less coherence to complicated issues and projects facing the town.

            In August, the legislature affirmed Article 34, making it a law.

            Nicki Demakis defended the May vote. In her comments to the voters, Demakis asked for a subsidiary motion to indefinitely postpone voting on this new petition. The vote was called. The debate was over, and the motion to permanently postpone was passed, 317-218.

            In a follow-up, Criscuolo said it was unclear what the way forward should be but that focusing on the elections to come was a priority.

            Demakis was also thinking about the future elections, saying, “there is a lot to be done both locally and for the mid-terms. She said she was aware of several residents interested in running for the Select Board. She hoped to hold an informal meeting that would explain to potential candidates what the responsibilities are for various municipal positions.

            In a follow up, Town Administrator Mike Lorenco indicated that the election of new Select Board members will be a staggered process. The candidate receiving the most votes will be given a three-year term. Subsequent elections will be held on an annual basis.

Correction

            In the October 8, 2025, edition article entitled, “Five-Member Select Board Upheld,” Paul Criscuolo should have been identified as Co-Chair of the Mattapoisett Republican Town Committee, but that the Committee took no vote or official action on this petition, and he acted solely as a citizen petitioner. Criscuolo believes expanding the Board could dilute accountability, create slower decision-making, and complicate consensus-building on complex issue and will not bring chaos as reported. While others may have contended that the May Town meeting results were flawed, Mr. Criscuolo has never made those claims.

Mattapoisett Woman’s Club

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The Mattapoisett Woman’s Club invites interested local residents to its October 16 monthly meeting featuring local author Jack Matthews. Mr. Matthews grew up in Mattapoisett, where he sailed and fished on Buzzards Bay, the setting for his novel Arte Perdida. Jack, a retired professor, spent seven years working on the novel, traveling to Germany, the Azores, and Newfoundland, exploring background material for the book. Arte Perdida: A saga of art, love, greed, revenge and murder, has been described by readers as a thrilling page turner with complex characters and a frightening twist. Books will be available for purchase and signing. Visitors are welcome to attend this program which will begin at 12:45 pm at the Mattapoisett Congregational Church in Reynard Hall.

            The Mattapoisett Woman’s Club is a civic, social, educational and philanthropic organization. Membership is always open to local women who are interested in the objectives and mission of the organization. For more information or questions please contact info@mattapoisettwomansclub.org.