After spending the week at MattRec’s Musical Theatre camp, participants in the camp put on an exciting show based on scenes and music from Frozen for family and friends on Friday afternoon. Mattrec also offers the Musical Theatre program in the Fall, Winter, and Spring as an after school program. Photos courtesy Greta Fox
Barbara K De Wilde, 85, of Fairhaven, MA, passed away on July 13, 2015.
Born in Lackawanna, NY on January 15, 1930, predeceased by her parents Julianna and Fredrich and one son. Survived by her husband and true friend of 66 years Henry De Wilde. The first of their many travels was their honeymoon trip on a 1949 Harley 74. They lived in upstate NY, OH, FL, were fulltime RV-ers for 4 years before returning to upstate NY and finally settling down in Fairhaven, MA to be near family. She is survived by 3 children, 11 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.
She was proud to be one of the first female real estate appraisers in the state of Ohio, holding national RM accreditation as well as completing programs at Kent State and Ohio State Universities. She enjoyed cooking, camping, painting, writing poetry, was an avid reader, had a passionate appreciation of classical music, mastered various crafts such as rug braiding and quilling, and was one of the more vocal fans of the Buffalo Bills. Her pioneer spirit was unquenchable, she had a great laugh that could fill a room, and she was known as a woman who stood true to her convictions. She is irreplaceable and is greatly missed by her family.
Per the family’s wishes memorial services will be private. Arrangements are with Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home for Funerals, 50 County Road, Mattapoisett. For online guestbook, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.
Rose Cutler, 90, of Marion, MA died peacefully at home on July 18, 2015. The daughter of Rose G. and George P. Gardner she was born in Brookline.
She attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston after which she became a registered nurse at Children’s Hospital School of Nursing. In 1948, she married Philip Cutler who died in 2001. She played an integral part in assisting him as he became founding Headmaster of Brookwood School in Manchester, MA where she taught art appreciation.
Her summers were spent in her beloved Roque Island, ME and Marion, MA. Friends and family remember her compassion and empathy but a wry and feisty humor was her hallmark.
She leaves behind her four children, Rose Dana and her husband Charles Dana of Newport, RI, Evelyn Goodhue and her husband, Francis Goodhue of Marion, MA, David Cutler of Lexington MA. and Christopher Cutler and his wife Mary Cutler of Harvard, MA, nine grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her brother, John Gardner of South Hamilton, MA. The family thanks her caregivers of many years who gave her great pleasure and comfort.
There will be a service at 11:30 a.m. on August 22, 2015 at her home in Marion.
In lieu of flowers a donation may be made in her name to the Sippican Lands Trust, 354 Front St., Marion, MA 02738 or to the Eastern Maine Coast Initiative (EMCI) C/O Atlantic Financial Services. 111 Commercial St (#302) Portland, ME 01401.
Arrangements by Chapman, Cole & Gleason Funeral Home, Wareham. To leave a message of condolence, visit: www.ccgfuneralhome.com
Due to low attendance, the teen wharf dances sponsored by the Mattapoisett Track Club have been cancelled for the remainder of the summer. If there is enough interest, we may hold a dance on August 27, the last Thursday before the start of school.
Whether you are a day-tripper, summer resident, local, or even a townie listening to Seth Mendell during one of his tours, he will take you back to the time of rich economic expansion in Mattapoisett to meet the people who lived in the antique houses that grace the village streets.
The Mattapoisett Historical Society Museum is once again hosting a series of walking tours around the village guided by Mendell. Although the route may not vary from tour to tour, the content does as Mendell speaks extemporaneously, handing out slices of history from New Bedford to the Caribbean and back again to this little – but historically significant – village.
The first tour of the season took place in advance of the flocks of visitors who came to town for the annual Lions Club Harbor Days event. A group of about 30 walked along Main Street to Water Street, and out onto Long Wharf as Mendell carried them back in time.
Mendell’s knowledge comes from his own investigations, coupled with those of his father, Charles Mendell, who wrote a fairly comprehensive history of whaling in this area back in the 1930s for the Old Dartmouth Historical Society. These men – father and son – have deep roots in the area with the younger Mendell’s local lineage going back on both his maternal and paternal sides. Thus, when you listen to Mendell, you are hearing not only his take on local history, but also the cumulative accounts of many generations.
As the tour wound its way through the village, Mendell told the group that men in the whaling trade also ran taverns and inns to support the many workers and travelers coming into Mattapoisett. Pointing at houses along Main Street from Town Hall to Water Street, Mendell pointed out several that were used as public houses, general stores, and taverns.
Of cabinetmakers, he said that theirs was a very profitable trade because cabinetmakers also built coffins. Those were always in high demand.
Arriving at the Mattapoisett Land Trust parcel known as Munro Preserve, Mendell pointed towards Goodspeed Island and detailed the process by which salt was pulled from the neighboring harbor.
“One barrel of salt was needed for three barrels of fish,” he said, going on to say that the importance of salt trumped the importance of gold during these times.
Before the Revolutionary War, salt had been imported from England, Spain, and France. With the advent of the war, colonists had to find another source; hence, the evaporation process was developed. Mendell said salt cured both meats and fish, making it possible to survive long winters. And without salt, he asked, “What were you going to eat?” The process itself was nothing short of life sustaining, he inferred.
Mendell helped the group imagine a time when, along what is now a barrier beach near the Reservation Golf Club, raised vats stood approximately 12 feet square by 1 foot deep set on posts and fed water by windmills. The sun evaporated the water, leaving behind salt and other minerals. Shed roofs that were slid into place as needed were constructed to protect the drying vats from weather conditions. The whole process took about one month to complete.
Arriving at Long Wharf, Mendell directed the group’s attention landward to Shipyard Park and told them that shipbuilding required long narrows strips of land. This allowed many builders to occupy a fairly small space from Pearl Street to Mechanics Street. Such well-known street names were once the names of the builders themselves, such as Barstow, Holmes, and Cannon.
Joshua Holmes was responsible for building the last whaling ship, The Wanderer, whose massive mainsail is now the flagpole centered in Shipyard Park. And the whaling vessel, The Acushnet, – best known as the ship on which Herman Melville sailed as a young man, whetting his creative imagination and powers of observing human nature and turning it all into the international best seller, Moby Dick – was built right here in Mattapoisett.
The most prominent shipbuilder of his day does not have a street named after him. That man was Joseph Meigs who owned what is now the Inn at Shipyard Park. His is a rags-to-riches story as Miegs went from being a poor Rochester farm boy to a major businessman through sheer force of single-minded determination.
One of the tourists asked if Marion had been part of this boom in the ship building trade. To a much lesser degree, Mendell said, since Marion’s harbor was too shallow for large whaling vessels, coupled with a small island that made navigating into the harbor difficult at best for boats of any size. For this reason, Nantucket also lost its significance, he said, as a shipbuilding port. As the ships became larger for sailing farther and farther out to sea in search of whales, shallow harbors could not support them. New Bedford and Mattapoisett became the prime movers of shipbuilding.
Mendell told the group that these men “were men of the world,” traveling far and wide and bringing back not only exotic goods, but cultural experiences that helped to shape the colonies.
Mendell gives several tours and talks during the summer months, sponsored by the historical museum. For a full schedule of these events and others, go to www.mattapoisetthistoricalsociety.org or stop by the museum where events are posted in an old-fashioned manner: the public bulletin board.
By Marilou Newell
Selectmen admitted July 20 to the recent discovery that the June 8 Rochester Annual Town Meeting was held without a quorum, resulting in town counsel’s scurrying for a solution.
The Rochester Board of Selectmen, Town Administrator Michael McCue, and Town Counsel Blair Bailey all appeared visibly unprepared for the questioning initiated by former town moderator and former candidate for selectman Greenwood “Woody” Hartley, after he called for selectmen to reopen their July 20 meeting after they had already adjourned so he could address the board.
Hartley claimed to have received a number of phone calls alleging the absence of a quorum of 100 at the Annual Town Meeting, saying the meeting never should have been opened.
Bailey admitted that he became aware of the concern a couple of weeks ago when Town Clerk/Selectman Naida Parker was preparing the documents from the Annual Town Meeting for submission to the Attorney General’s Office and noticed a total number of Town Meeting members present was not listed. She then approached Bailey once she realized only 91 Town Meeting members were present, nine short of a quorum.
“I believe the [attorney general] had mentioned that this is not unusual,” said McCue. “Other towns have had not having a quorum at their annual town meeting.”
Bailey contacted the AG’s office, as well as State Representative Bill Straus’ office, to ask for special legislation that would allow the Annual TM to stand, as well as all the articles voted upon during TM.
The two other selectmen, Chairman Richard Nunes and Selectman Bradford Morse, both said they had only learned of the matter in an email sent to them the night before the meeting.
Hartley wondered how this could happen, saying he could not recall the presence of a quorum being announced or questioned at the start of the Annual TM, only the presence of a quorum of 75 for the preceding Special Town Meeting announced by newly elected Town Moderator Kirby Gilbert.
“I would like to know from the town clerk how that happened,” said Hartley to Parker. He had been town moderator for 20 years, pointing out that this had never happened before.
Parker said she called a quorum of 100 at TM, but “I wasn’t agreed with.”
“This is way more serious,” said Hartley. “I hate to see this happen, and I don’t think we should get a free pass on this (from the AG). Somebody ought to fess up,” he said, instead of “scurrying around behind the scenes.”
Hartley said he himself would contact Straus’ office to specifically ask him not to allow the Annual TM to stand.
“The Town should fix this right away,” said Hartley.
“I agree with you,” said Nunes to Hartley. “When I found out about it, I was just as concerned about it as you.” However, said Nunes, does the Town stick with operating under the fiscal year 2015 budget at this time? Does the Town nullify its amended bylaws? Nunes said nobody knew there was no quorum.
“Naida knew,” Hartley shot back.
“No, I didn’t know until after…” said Parker. “We started the Special (TM) and I never got down to check, and Kirby didn’t call it.”
That is a failure, Hartley stated twice. “That’s just a failure. It should’ve happened the right way.” He said he waited before questioning selectmen and Parker about the quorum to see how they would handle it.
“Good golly, we should have good government and this isn’t good government,” said Hartley.
Nunes pointed out that, last year, Mattapoisett also discovered its town meeting did not have a quorum, and the Town followed the same route Rochester is following – to garner support for special legislation to accept the TM without the quorum. Otherwise, said Nunes, the town accrues further expenses holding another Annual TM, wreaking havoc with the current budget and bylaw amendments.
“It has been reported to the attorney general, so that’s been noted,” said Parker. “They are aware that there was not a quorum.”
To be clear, said Bailey, he didn’t hear about the problem until a couple of weeks ago. He hesitated to announce anything until he could encounter a viable solution to the matter.
“Best I can tell, it was a miscommunication,” said Bailey. “I don’t think he (Gilmore) made a reference to the quorum at the Annual.” Just during the Special Town Meeting.
Nunes assured Hartley that the Town would not have held the town meeting if anyone knew there was no quorum.
“And to me, it was new territory,” said Bailey.
But that is the beauty of having the pink cards, said Hartley. There is a number on each card. “I’m unhappy about the way it makes us look,” said Hartley. Morse said the issue was between the town moderator and the town clerk.
Nunes agreed that Hartley was right, and agreed that the selectmen should have been informed about the petition to Straus’ office so a formal vote could be taken.
“If the Town is asking a state rep to file special legislation, then damn it, the Board of Selectmen should know about it,” said Nunes raising his voice. “They should know about it.”
Bailey insisted he could not come to the board without any idea on what to do – not until he had a solution to offer them. At this point, he said, the Town will wait to hear back from Straus.
“I think the selectmen should take the lead on this,” said Hartley. “I’ve heard two different stories about how it happened.”
Bailey said he understands Hartley’s concern, but he resented the implication that there was a cover-up.
“It falls on me to come up with a legal remedy,” said Bailey. “Sitting right here, I don’t have an answer.”
“My first call would have been all three selectmen,” said Hartley. “Selectmen need to know this shit.”
Parker again defended her actions, saying she didn’t know until almost 30 days later when she was filing with the AG’s office. “I had no reason to count them.”
“However you slice it,” said Bailey, “it’s a mess. The question is how to fix it at this point. And that’s up to the selectmen.”
After the meeting, Bailey said he believes the combination of a new town moderator, a new town administrator, and a newly-amended quorum, which was increased last year from 75 to 100, was where the problem likely happened.
By Jean Perry
Starting August 2, the Mattapoisett Congregational Church, UCC, will try something new and you are invited!
For the next four months, the church will hold casual, evening worship services on the first Sunday of the month: August 2, September 6, October 4 and November 1. Worship will begin at 7:00 pm in Reynard Hall, at the corner of Church and Mechanic Street in Mattapoisett. Talented musicians will provide the music, as worshippers enjoy informal “café-style” worship around tables.
“We know that many people simply cannot make a Sunday morning service,” said the church’s pastor, Rev. Amy Lignitz Harken. She cited youth sporting events, work obligations and out-of-town travel as reasons people can find Sunday mornings difficult. “Plus, many people like to spend a beautiful Sunday morning enjoying nature or their family,” she added.
Services will include music, prayer, scripture and other traditional liturgical elements. But the style will be comfortable and casual. Everyone is welcome at this service. For more information, please call the church office at 508-758-2671.
Fun for all ages at the First Congregational Church of Marion, the annual Super Duper Summer Fair will be held on Saturday, July 25 from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, 28 Main Street, Marion. Bring the children for games, dunk tank, putting green, penny candy and much more. Find furniture, paintings, glassware and more at the Silent Auction and Fine Gifts tables. Treat yourself to yummy home-baked goods, candy and fresh picked local blueberries. Be entertained by the Harpoon Harmonizers as they stroll throughout the Fairgrounds. Yard Sale items abound at the White Elephant table. Perk up your garden with some new plants and your home with handmade crafts. Pick up some great beach books along with nautical and sports equipment. Stay for lunch and savor our famous lobster rolls and chicken wraps at the Chapel Café. The Sidewalk Grill features hot dogs, hamburgers along with grilled fresh catch from the boat by Harbor Blue Seafood. New this year – purchase some of their fresh marinated fish to grill at home. For information, go to www.marionfirstchurch.org.
Marion Rochester Youth Soccer League (Fall Recreation) deadline is August 15 – 30 days left for Fall Recreation Soccer, formerly Oceaneers.
Marion Rochester Youth Soccer Club is taking registrations for the upcoming Fall Recreational Season which kicks off in September. Formerly Oceaneer’s Youth Soccer, the MRYS is now under the leadership and directorship of Jody Dickerson from the Marion Recreation Department. Don’t miss this upcoming fall season. You can register in person at the Marion Recreation Department on Atlantis Drive in Marion; please see Jill Pitman to drop off your registration. You can also register on the MRYS Soccer website at www.MRYouthSoccer.org and click on “Registration” tab from the home page.
We are also still looking for Fall Travel players for our Boys U12, Boys U10, and Boys U8 Fall Travel Soccer Teams. We have scheduled another “Try Out” for these teams for July 28 from 5:30 – 7:00 pm at Dexter Lane in Rochester. If you would like more information about our Fall Travel Program or would like to attend the July 28 “Try Out,” please email info@marionrecreation.com or phone us at 774-217-8355 in advance.
Well, maybe not a complete Senior Center, but we’re making a start with a mini version beginning on August 3 at The Music Hall on Front Street.
It will probably be some time before a true Senior Center is a reality for Marion so the COA, along with the help from the Friends of the Marion Council on Aging and the Music Hall Committee, is going to offer a Mini Senior Center every Monday from 9:30 am to 2:00 pm at the Music Hall.
The day will begin with the weekly Blood Pressure Clinic from 9:30 – 11:30 am. At the same time, Chair Yoga (with Pamela Smith Paquetter) will be offered in another room from 10:00 – 11:00 am. From 11:30 am to 12:45 pm, a conversation/social hour with free lunch will take place, (Libby O’Neill will be available on August 3 to answer any of your technology questions) followed by a “Learning and Leisure” lecture from 1:00 – 2:00 pm. The blood Pressure Clinic, Chair Yoga, and lunch/social hour will continue every Monday throughout the month of August. The lecture hour will offer varied topics:
August 3: “Furniture Flip” with Harriet Ingerslev
August 10: “Insomnia” with Dr. Katherine Krefft
August 17: “Meet Cecil Clark Davis” with Wendy Bidstrup
August 24: “The Card Lady” with Marge Primavera
August 31: “The Arts will Change Your Life” with Mary Worden
All seniors are invited to attend for part or all of the day at no charge, and we welcome suggestions for future programs and lectures. Depending on the popularity and success of the mini center, the COA is prepared to expand the program and add another day each week. So mark your calendars for every Monday beginning on August 3 and let’s make a start together!
New trip added: Trader Joe’s at Patriot Place on July 27. This trip fills up fast, so call today to reserve your spot on the van!