Along with the weather, things are warming up at the museum at 355 County Road. June will bring our two day Historic Fair with loads of activities for both kids and adults. July 17 will be Music with Tom and Sheila Perry (downstairs or outside) followed by our ice cream social, and August 21 will be a Pot Luck supper.
The 2024 Memorial Day Remembrances and Procession will take place on Monday, May 27 starting at 9:00 am in front of the Music Hall at 164 Front Street, Marion. In the event of rain, the event will be relocated to the Multipurpose Room of Sippican Elementary School.
The 2024 procession and remembrances will follow same route as in past years, stepping off from the Music Hall northbound on Front Street, marching 0.6 miles up Front Street to the Veterans’ Memorial at Old Landing. Upon arrival at the Veterans’ Memorial, the town will pay tribute to our military’s “honored dead” who “gave the last full measure of devotion”.
The procession and remembrances will feature the Sippican School Marching Band led by director Hannah Moore as well as The Portuguese American Band. The ceremony will conclude with members of the Select Board laying a wreath at the Veterans’ Memorial. The master of ceremonies for the event will be Technical Sergeant Mandy Givens of the Massachusetts Air National Guard.
The featured speaker is Charles A (Charlie) Brown, a resident of Marion since the early 1990s. Mr. Brown enlisted in the United States Army in January 1966 but was quickly selected for Officer Candidate School, a 24-week program at Ft. Benning, Georgia upon completion of which he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in December 1966. In June of 1966, Lieutenant Brown was transferred to Vietnam and assigned to the First Cavalry Division Airmobile, with 430 helicopters that were their rides into battle. He was combat wounded in December 1966 and again in January 1967. Then, in January of 1968, his Division was flown just north of Hue and defended against the North’s Tet Offensive. Following nine months in the field, Lieutenant Brown was transferred to the battalion headquarters. On May 5, 1968, the battalion was attacked and partially overrun. Lieutenant Brown received his third Purple Heart and the Silver Star for actions leading his troops in defending the headquarters. In the years since, Mr. Brown has spent an extensive amount of time supporting his combat brothers, their families and the families of our fallen. After his military service, he had a 25-year career in technology and nine years dealing in Asian Antiques. He also served nine years as an emergency medical technician. Mr. Brown is married to his wife Carol and has three grown children.
Residents are encouraged to attend the remembrances as well as stand along the parade route on Front Street between Cottage Street and Ryder Lane.
G. Richard Duffy Jr., known in the community as “Duff,” passed away in his home on Sunday surrounded by friends and family at the age of 86. A fighter to the end, he eventually lost his battle with cancer, but he took it into double overtime of his own game seven.
Born in Medford, MA in 1937, he was the oldest son of the late G. Richard Duffy and the late Helen (Galvin) Duffy who he revered (but selectively listened to.) His Irish home was filled with extended family including five Galvin uncles and his Gram whom he adored.
He grew up in Cambridge, MA, Newport RI, and Fall River, MA. He dominated the playgrounds and the fields with an intensity that continued through an all-American high school career, three sport college years and continued into his coaching at Tabor Academy.
A proud patriot, he served his country from 1958 to 1963 as a U.S. Marine Veteran which was one of his greatest honors.
Dean, Teacher, House Parent, and Coach at Tabor Academy, “Coach Duffy” mentored thousands of students throughout his 48-year career, retiring in 2016. A Babson College graduate, and Tabor Academy Class of 1956, he returned to his beloved Tabor in 1969 where he taught History, introduced an Advanced Placement Economics course, as well as the popular elective America in Vietnam.
Coach Duffy served as head coach of varsity baseball for 33 years, as well the leader of the JV football team for 18 seasons. He was one of the first Dean of Students and for 18 years was the houseparent in West House. He has been Tabor’s most ardent sports fan and one of the strongest supporters of Tabor’s athletes.
Duff’s impact on Tabor sports was recognized in 2011 with the naming of the school’s athletic turf field complex in his honor. The G. Richard Duffy Athletic Fields are used today by Tabor students, as well as the Greater Tri-Town Communities. At the field’s dedication, the students wore t-shirts with the quote “grass doesn’t grow on the JV field” to recognize the tough practices he was known for. Former players referred to Duff’s JV football practices as “varsity track.”
For 25 years during the summers, Duff ran Silvershell Beach in Marion. He was a permanent fixture at the end of the jetty, orange swim trunks, whistle in hand, patrolling the swim lines no boats dared to cross.
Duff’s impressive life-long collection of rare coins has been donated to Tabor to start a scholarship fund in his name.
He was a communicant of St. Anthony’s Church in Mattapoisett and known in his community for his quiet acts of generosity and kindness.
Surviving are his daughter Kate G. Duffy and her husband Jim Carlson of Edmond, Oklahoma, his sisters: Patricia van den Broek and her husband Albertus of Darien, CT and Paula Chase and her husband David of Denver, Colorado; 2 nephews Richard and Patrick van den Broek, niece Amy Semansky, their families as well as thousands of Tabor students over the last 50 years.
His Funeral Mass will be held Wednesday, May 29, 2024 at 10am in St. Anthony’s Church, 26 Hammond St., Mattapoisett, MA. Visiting hours Tuesday from 4-7pm in the Waring-Sullivan Home at Fairlawn, 180 Washington St., Fairhaven. Memorial contributions may be sent to the G. Richard Duffy Scholarship Fund, Tabor Academy, 66 Spring St., Marion, MA 02738 or online https://www.givecampus.com/zbwwbn. Burial in St. Patrick’s Cemetery, Fall River. Following the burial there will be a celebration of Coach’s life at the Fall River Country Club, where everyone will “Eat, Drink and be Merry” per Duff’s instructions.
For online tributes, please visit: www.waring-sullivan.com
The May 13 Mattapoisett Annual Town Meeting included moments of verbalized personal attacks and frustration during an hour-long debate on the pros and cons of the establishment of a new committee to help oversee the village road reconstruction project.
Voters supported the creation of the committee, technically authorizing Select Board to act on the matter, which is now anticipated by Town Administrator Mike Lorenco in one of the board’s future public meetings.
Spearheading the effort to gain a seat at the decision-making table regarding all matters related to the proposed reconstruction of the village roads (Main, Water and Beacon streets and Old Marion Road) was Tree Committee Chairman Sandra Hering along with Bonne DeSousa, well known for her work on bike-path advocacy.
The duo, along with four others, was able to get a citizen’s petition on the warrant asking the Select Board to establish a new committee that would provide outreach and information to the town’s residents on the design options that might lead to a plan that would spare trees currently targeted for removal.
Using the Tree Committee platform to engage in public dialog over concerns that too many mature trees especially along the waterfront (20-plus at last count) would be felled to make way for new sidewalks and overhead utilities, meetings were held and Tree Committee members ramped up public interest for protecting the trees in question. But the Tree Committee believed more could be done to protect trees and, as inclusion requests increased, several members moved to try and establish a new committee whose stated purpose among other things would be public engagement and inclusion.
Hering said that the new committee is not meant to be a subcommittee of the Tree Committee.
At times, the debate over Article 23, which was advanced on Town Meeting floor and inserted in the 14th position on the 23-article warrant, became confrontational with some Town Meeting members insinuating that the Select Board withheld information, has not been transparent and has not held sufficient public meetings to vet the suggested construction preliminary design.
Select Board members Jordan Collyer and Tyler Macallister both attempted to make points that the project has been under a nearly 10-year review in which public meetings have been held, that trees requiring removal have been discussed at length, that the board has done its homework reviewing whether utilities can be placed underground and regarding the potential replanting of trees to provide a future shade canopy.
The two Select Board members also discussed the funding aspects of the reconstruction work and the need to advance the project to 25% design status in order to maintain the town’s status on a TIP grant that would cover a vast majority of costs now estimated at $16,000,000.
Proponents for a new committee to push details into the public domain and consider design options and other aspects of a road-reconstruction project countered that not enough has been done from a public perspective and that by having a seat at the design table, such a committee would assist in gaining a finished product that all would like.
Hering acknowledged that proponents of a new committee had only recently learned that such a committee would be working in an advisory capacity only, but she still believes a committee is necessary.
At various times throughout the debate, Town Moderator Jack Eklund had to remind a speaker to keep comments civil and on the subject absent personal attacks, at one point causing police security personnel on site to take on a ready stance should escalation require intervention. Decorum was, however, maintained. “Article 23” was moved by Town Meeting, authorizing the Select Board to move forward at a future Select Board meeting.
The balance of the meeting delt primarily with financial matters. Article 1 Officers Compensation was moved. Article 2 General Operating Budget was for a FY25 operating budget of $33,298,565 was also moved.
Article 3 Appropriation for OPEB Liabilities for a sum of $229,100 was moved. Articles 4 and 5, Departmental Revolving Fund Authorization, and Establishment of a Roadway Design and Construction Revolving Fund were both moved.
Article 6 Establish a Conservation Commission Revolving Fund $30,000 was moved, as was Article 7 Cyclical Annual Property Revaluation and Town Mappings $50,000.
Also moved were Articles 8 and 9, Cyclical Annual OPEB Actuarial Report, and Personnel Schedules.
Articles 10 and 11 both dealt with Capital Expenses Article 10 for accepting the committee report and Article 11 for funding of capital requests. The funding of such items as fire helmets, trucks, an ambulance and local schools’ infrastructural needs amounted to $1,154,800 from the general fund.
Article 12 Old Rochester Regional Debt Authorization for $12,000,000 in capital improvements to the senior and junior high school buildings and campus was postponed indefinitely at the ORR District’s request.
Article 13 Water/Sewer Building $4,700,000 was moved with sources earmarked from property sales and ARPA funding.
Articles 14 and 15 for the allocation of revenues Community Preservation Act and the funding of one grant as requested by the Historical Commission for the continuation of townwide inventory of historic assets and buildings were both moved.
Articles 16, 17 and 18 dealt with Water and/or Sewer financial matters, including the funding of a major sewer main on Oakland that services a large swath of the community, supplemental request of $120,000.
Article 19 Amendment to By-law for Highway title was postponed indefinitely; it would have allowed for a title change from Highway Surveyor to Highway Superintendent. Article 20 Amendment to By-laws for Finance Committee garnered some discussion on the language of the motion but was ultimately moved to allow the Select Board to accept applications for open seats regardless of residential location within the community. Heretofore, board members were not only selected for financial backgrounds but also to represent various established neighborhoods.
Article 21 Amendment to By-laws for House Numbering was moved and now makes it clear that such numbering is established by the Assessor’s office. Article 22 Public Works Improvement article was also moved.
At the highpoint in the meeting, 160 registered voters participated in one of the oldest forms of a democratic society – Town Meeting. By the time the meeting was adjourned, that figured had dropped to 120.
Mattapoisett Annual Town Meeting
By Marilou Newell
Oh glory hallelujah, it’s spring again! It’s that time of the year when gardeners in the northeast prepare to welcome the emergence of previously planted bulbs and tubers, from daylily to lily of the valley to a mind-numbing variety of flowering plants. But one expert in the field of garden design and all things growing from the verdant earth, Kerry Ann Mendez, also welcomes a vast number of native species into her gardens, and she’d like you to join that movement.
On May 11, Mendez took center stage at the Elizabeth Taber Library, a presentation hosted in concert with the Friends of the Elizabeth Taber Library and the Marion Natural History Museum, to speak to gardeners on the subject of planting native specimens. She explained the importance of selecting healthy plants from trusted garden centers but also noted that even she has been drawn to big-box stores for plants if the price was right and the plants appeared healthy.
Mendez’s approach to creating gardening is multilayered; she selects plants for color, texture, size and hardiness. But she is mindful that plants are food for a variety of insects and animals; thus fruits, nuts and pollen production are a large part of the equation.
Mendez said that by planting as many “natives” as possible, you are supporting a healthier ecosystem that in turn supports greater diversity of animals. From the internet, we learn that native plants, also known as “straight native species,” are plants that occur in the wild minus human manipulation. Researchers found that native oaks, for example, host over 550 different moths and butterflies (primarily their caterpillars), thus feeding thousands of songbirds.
A nativar, a variant of a native plant, may sometimes occur naturally but more often than not, would never be found in nature.
Mendez pointed to milk weeds as a good food source (for animals and bugs, that is) which can easily be grown in home gardens. We took seeds of the common milk weed from a natural habitat and now two years on, have tens of spikes shooting out of the ground on their way to flowering and serving as a monarch butterfly nursery. What joy to see those newly emerged little wonders flapping around the garden. We also planted swamp milkweed, which is doing well in the upland flower beds.
The educator, landscape, architect and author of several gardening books, including “Perennially Yours” also explained how, due to homeowner-association restrictions, she has turned to container gardening. When asked, Mendez explained that she manages the large containers by moving them into the garage once they have gone dormant. In the spring, when the plants appear to be budding, they are returned to their outdoor locations. There’s more than one way to circumvent what might be considered too-restrictive rules and still have amazing, flowering native plants.
Mendez talked about the importance of reading the tags that most plants come with for information on sustaining the plant and even whether or not it is a native or nativar. We tried that at a local garden center and found the tags to be woefully absent of that detail. But there were other plants that clearly proclaimed “native!”
So, as you prepare to add new plants to your gardens, don’t forget you can also feed the birds and bees, keeping the circle of life more vibrant and sustainable even in the smallest ways.
Friends of the Elizabeth Taber Library
By Marilou Newell
The Red Oak Garden is hosting a plant sale on Saturday, May 25 from 10 am to 2:00 in the Parking Lot between Ying Dynasty and What the Taco. All proceeds from the sale will benefit the Red Oak Garden which is a part of the Helping Hands and Hooves therapeutic horseback riding and gardening program.
Garden members are friends and neighbors of all ages and backgrounds who have come together to work and learn in the garden. The group strives to cultivate healthy soil and nutritious produce as they study and learn from nature’s wisdom. This season, as the group experiments with growing new vegetables and flowers, they will continue to share their harvest with the wider Southcoast community.
Members of the garden have started herb, vegetable and annuals from seed. Local perennials and natural garden trellises will also be for sale. Cash or check payments will gratefully be accepted.
Start or expand your garden with herbs, vegetables and flowers and treat yourself to refreshments at the lemonade stand while supporting the Red Oak Garden.
For more information about The Red Oak Garden and Helping Hands and Hooves, please visit their website www.helpinghandsandhooves.org.
A zoning article brought the most residents to the microphone as Rochester’s Annual Town Meeting otherwise breezed through its 21-article warrant on Monday night at Rochester Memorial School.
The meeting’s 178 attendees passed a bylaw amendment mandating that lot access shall only be allowed through or across a viable, legal road frontage and that the required rectangular shape of a lot will no longer need to be within the 40-foot setback line. But first this article stirred resistance with the stipulation that a proposed back lot in the Agricultural-Residential District must be owned by the applicant for at least five years prior to an application to develop it.
Planning Board Chairman Arnie Johnson said these changes were basic housekeeping. He said Rochester’s new town counsel and building inspector have said that the town’s interpretation of these current bylaws did not reflect their wording, and that has to be corrected.
A resident stepped to the microphone to complain this change will kill a deal he was on the verge of completing to buy a property, a plan that would have led to preservation of open space. With this change, a property owner would face restrictions that could lead that person to a larger development rather than a sale, he said. “That five-year regulation is excessive,” he said.
Another questioner asked if the age of the house itself would make a difference and where did the five-year figure come from?
Johnson answered that that the original bylaw being changed here was created approximately 19 years ago, and he didn’t know why the figure was used. But he quickly explained that the five years of property ownership requirement is there because the Planning Board doesn’t want a developer to buy, then quickly flip a property for resale and further development. Ultimately, this article passed by the required two-thirds majority vote.
The meeting’s next important bylaw amendment vote was to approve new regulations for the construction and permitting of solar-array, battery-energy storage systems.
“These systems are the newest, ‘greatest’ invention being required by the state,” Johnson explained. “And we don’t have regulations for them.”
Johnson said the regulations will prevent these systems from being built in the town’s environmentally sensitive Groundwater Protection District and the Mattapoisett River Valley Watershed, except by special permit. “It’s critical to get this approved to protect us,” he said. Small, residential, battery-storage systems will be exempt, he noted.
The meeting also passed two other impactful bylaw amendments. One mandates that the location of any site with any historical significance must be identified to avoid “mitigating impacts” to such sites during development of that location. When the project development requires altering the soil, a qualified observer must be present to ensure that historical resources are not disturbed. The other amendment changes when town meetings may be held: on any Monday before the third Monday of May (rather than “the second Monday in May”), starting in 2025.
The meeting began by passing a $26,032,613 town operating budget for FY25. Before motioning that this figure be approved, Stoltenberg said, “The total FY 2025 General Government Budget (non-school) is $11,383,700, which is an increase of $326,921 or 2.16 percent. We did have our challenges this year. We were significantly over budget.”
To close the town’s budget gaps, Stoltenberg said, the Finance Committee had to remove budget requests from additional personnel to a new police car and to ask Old Rochester Regional High School to make its own budget “adjustments.” The result, he said, is a town in solid budget condition.
After endorsing the FY25 budget, the meeting approved the following spending from available funds: $15,000 for Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) to fund the future obligations to the town’s retirees, to stabilization funds $140,000 for Public Safety, $100,000 for Road Improvements and $300,000 for Capital Improvements, $121,180 in capital funding to include $24,000 for a Fire Department utility terrain vehicle, $60,000 to overhaul two Rochester Memorial School HVAC units and $37,180 for a new financial-software package for the town’s Financial Department, $300,000 to assist with the needs of Special Education students at Rochester Memorial School and $15,000 to replace the Plumb Library roof damaged in a storm last month.
The meeting postponed indefinitely an article to approve a $12,000,000 debt for capital improvements to the ORR High School and Junior High School buildings and campus. Last month, school district officials withdrew their request for these funds.
Town Moderator David Arancio announced this will be the last town meeting for Stoltenberg, who is retiring from the Finance Committee at the end of this term and Town Administrator Glenn Cannon, who was scheduled to become Carver’s town administrator on May 14. Stoltenberg will serve on the search committee for a new town administrator. Finance Director and former Town Administrator Suzanne Szyndlar has returned to her former dual role on an interim basis.
Rochester Town Meeting
By Michael J. DeCicco
Join us on Saturday, May 25 to hear from local sci-fi author Richard Cutler as he talks about his books and the current day misconceptions and confusion regarding science fiction. Richard Cutler is an engineer who dwells on historical events and future possibilities-combining these with a cynical view of what some believe led to his first two books, Course Correction and Carbon Neutral, followed by Altered Horizon. His newest book is Trappist-1 pi Factor. When not writing, he restores early 1900s automobiles, or he, his wife, and their cat go cruising. Books will be available for sale and signing (cash or check, please). Light refreshments will be served. There are 25 spots available for this event. Please register through our online Events Calendar.
Rochester’s Conservation Commission Tuesday approved and signed the Order of Conditions for previously unpermitted work at 532 Snipatuit Road.
That work will remove an existing houseboat and dock from the edge of the pond within a wetlands buffer zone, including demolition of an existing house and construct a new, single-family home with associated site work, a new septic system and upgraded gravel-base driveway and stone cover.
In a previous meeting, the commission noted the plan’s Notice of Intent application was sparked by the board’s Enforcement Order against previous unpermitted, cleanup work there months ago. The applicant’s engineering consultant, Rick Charon, admitted then that there was a variety of wetlands designations on the property, but there was also a variety of measures being planned to address them all.
Tuesday, Charon acknowledged, “you got our attention with your (Enforcement Order) letter. We needed to excavate there so (applicant Walter P. Faria) can a build house for his daughter.”
Before motioning for the board to accept the OOC as written, acting Chairman Ben Bailey noted the enforcement letter will be attached to one of the conditions within the order, and Charon said he understood.
The plan that was specified in a previous ConCom meeting will include removing an old rotting house, replacing an “inadequate” driveway with a new one and at the pond area, building a siltation containment system and containment buoys.
In other action, the commission agreed to prepare and file a Notice of Intent for its plan to clear the sometimes-clogged, herring-run area from Hartley Farm Pond to the start of the Rochester Memorial Day Boat Race.
In March, the commission met over a Zoom call with Brad Chase of Massachusetts Marine Fisheries as a follow-up to the commission members’ February 10 site visit of the herring-run area. The commission’s conclusion after that tour was that “mat of vegetation” might soon impede the herring run there.
Town Herring Inspector David Watling Tuesday described a more recent site visit he and ConCom members conducted with Chase. “We all agreed the work should be done,” Watling said. “The question is how and when.”
The commissioners agreed that testing the waterway conditions will be the next step before settling on how to fix the problem. Bailey suggested planting measurement sticks in the waterway after the boat race when the water level is rather low to conduct that test.
“We might find the vegetation is the problem, not the soil beneath it,” Commissioner Michael Gifford said.
Gifford explained later that the options for fixing the problem area include dredging manually to open up a new channel or machine-dredging, using Plymouth County equipment that won’t be available to them right away. First, he said, the town must determine the conditions of the river bottom through measurement sticks, weights or manually wading through it.
In other business, the commission continued its Notice of Intent public hearing for 0 Bishop Road, the construction of a single-family home with on-site septic system within a wetlands buffer zone, until its next meeting on May 21.
The board approved a requested extension of the Order of Conditions for Plumb Corner for housing lots located on Rounseville Road until 2025.
The Conservation Commission will meet next on Tuesday, May 21, at 7:00 pm at Town Hall, 1 Constitution Way.
Rochester Conservation Commission
By Michael J. DeCicco
Editor’s Note: The Wanderer has invited candidates in contested races (more candidates on the ballot than seats open) to submit up to 350 words on their candidacy. Below are the Marion Select Board and Marion School Committee candidates who have responded to the Wanderer’s invitation. Mattapoisett and Rochester candidates submitting statements will appear in next week’s issue.
Marion Select Board
There is one open seat for a three-year term on the Marion Select Board being contested by incumbent Randy Parker and challenger Diane Lopes-Flaherty. The Marion Town Election will be held on Friday, May 17, at the Cushing Community Center.
Diane Lopes-Flaherty
My goal is to bring my long history of community service to all residents of our town. My door will be open. Initially, I would support a more practical mechanism to encourage residents’ feedback to the town; a review of town roadways for safety and signage, and the impact on residents of the Marion/Wareham bridge replacement. I would explore the feasibility of a designated truck route through the town to ease road noise and damage in residential areas, and a status report on the proposed New Meadow development as it pertains to aging in place. I was born and raised in Marion, one of nine children. My father, Benjamin “Jimmy” Lopes, was a Marion businessman, cranberry farmer, and special officer with the Marion Police. In my early 20s, I moved to Boston where I raised my three children and pursued a career in public service. I began as a social worker at the Cooper Community Center before serving as a victim-witness advocate under former Middlesex District Attorney Scott Harshbarger. I was later appointed as Neighborhood Services coordinator by Mayor Ray Flynn. The highlight of my career in Boston was to serve as the city’s commissioner of Elder Affairs for a record 11 years through 1998, becoming the first person of color to lead that office. I returned to Marion in 1999 and continued in public service for another 17 years as consumer mediator for the Attorney General’s Southeastern Massachusetts Division in New Bedford, where I received the Robert H. Quinn Award for Excellence before retiring in January 2017. I’m honored to have been recognized by the City of Boston, Boston University Medical Center, NAACP, National Society to Prevent Blindness, Massachusetts Black Legislative Caucus, and the Boston Police Department, and to have served on the Board of Directors of the Madison Park Community Center, Boston Police Athletic League, MA/NH Chapter of the national Alzheimer’s Association, and the Cape Verdean Festival Association. I’m an avid gardener who loves this town, its people, and the opportunity to live with my husband Gerald in the home my father built on Point Road.
Randy Parker
Dear Fellow Marion Residents, I am Randy Parker, and I have had the privilege of serving as a member of the Select Board for the past six years. As we approach the upcoming election on May 17, I humbly seek your endorsement for my re-election. Having been an integral part of the Marion community for most of my life, I deliberately chose to raise my children and build my business in this town that I am fortunate and proud to call home. Throughout my tenure on the Select Board, I have embodied a hands-on approach, dedicated to gathering information and conducting thorough research before making decisions. This commitment to diligence has been the cornerstone of my service, and I am proud of the positive impacts we have achieved as a team within our town over the last several years. Some notable achievements include: the renovation of the Town Hall, the implementation of an emergency egress at Sippican School, and securing a School Resource Officer for the Sippican School. Looking ahead, there are several issues facing our town that demand our attention and action including: incorporating the comfort-dog program with the Police Department, reducing the speed limit to 25 in town (Article 32), and construction of the Department of Public Works facility. I firmly believe that I am the best candidate to address these challenges. I am committed to working tirelessly to explore every avenue, gather relevant details, and present the most informed options to our taxpayers. In closing, I extend my heartfelt gratitude to you for taking the time to consider my candidacy. Whether you wish to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing our town or simply share a cup of tea, I am always available and eager to engage with you. Please feel free to reach out to me at your convenience. Thank you for your support and consideration.
Marion School Committee
There are two open seats for three-year terms on the Marion School Committee being contested by incumbents April Nye and Michelle Smith and challenger Kristina Callina. The Marion Town Election will be held on Friday, May 17, at the Cushing Community Center.
April Nye
As I seek re-election for a third term, allow me to reintroduce myself. I hold a Master’s Degree in Criminology and Law and graduated from Suffolk University. I worked nearly 20 years for the commonwealth and retired from the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Department as the Gang Unit program manager, which focused on rehabilitation and victim’s rights. When our son went off to Kindergarten, I started volunteering in VASE and eventually would become president of the same and spend the next seven years dedicating myself to the school community and organization and still contribute now in various ways. I loved volunteering, but knew I also wanted to help and be involved on a different level, so I ran for and was elected in 2018 to the Marion School Committee. Since being elected in 2018, I have dedicated myself to supporting the rights of Sippican School students and their families, working with our faculty and administration to ensure they have what they need to meet our students where they are at, and pride myself on being accessible and transparent to the community of Marion. I have been the chairperson now for three years and know firsthand the importance of cultivating productive relationships with all stakeholders within the school and community, as well as have worked tirelessly to develop positive working relationships with our town Select Board, Finance Committee and town administrators and pride myself on having turned what were once contentious relationships into productive ones and appreciate everyone’s commitment to our schools. It was my mission in 2018 to bring a School Resource Officer into Sippican and having finally done so in 2023 was a true accomplishment I feel for our students and school community. I am thankful to the voters for supporting the SRO and the added layer of security, as well as knowing the positive impact Community Policing has on children. There is much work to be done at Sippican, and I look forward to continuing this work on behalf of students, their families and the town and hope to have earned your continued support on May 17.
Kristina Callina
My name is Kristina Callina and I am asking Marion voters to elect me on May 17 for Marion School Committee. I am the parent of a third-grader at Sippican and an Old Rochester District alum, and have served the past three years on the Sippican School Council. I hope Marion voters will elect me because I have experiences from my educational background in child development, as a small business owner, data analyst, and as a parent, that I believe can benefit our community. As a developmental psychologist and statistician, I have expertise in social science research design and data analysis and reporting, having worked with institutions such as the United States Military Academy at West Point and the National 4-H Council to study and promote leadership and social-emotional learning among young people. I am looking forward to contributing my unique talents to the Marion School Committee, and to partnering with other School Committee members and the superintendent to serve our children and our community. As a parent, tri-town alum, and community member, I have a personal interest in preserving and improving the quality of our school system, and I believe in quality public education for our current and future students. For instance, while on the Sippican School Council, I provided guidance to the school improvement planning – my hope is to join the School Committee to help set policies and funding strategies to implement those plans. In my professional life, I have successfully partnered with diverse stakeholders across from private, military, and non-profit sectors, and I believe strong partnerships are likewise foundational to our school’s success. I plan to help strengthen relationships between the School Committee and community stakeholders through transparency and thoughtful communication. I promise to work collaboratively to accomplish the School Committee’s goals and to serve our teachers, students, and community. Finally, as a research scientist, I know how to balance rigor and reality, making decisions using best practices, available data, and real-world constraints and opportunities. I love Sippican School and promise to use all available information to vote in the best interest of the students of Marion.
Michelle Ouellette Smith
As a candidate for re-election, I am humbled and honored by the opportunity to continue serving our community for another 3 year term. For over the past 12 years, I have dedicated myself wholeheartedly to the betterment of Sippican and the ORR educational system. I am committed to continuing this important work. During my tenure at Sippican, I have had the privilege of witnessing the impact that a quality education can have on the lives of our students. Guided by a commitment to excellence, equity, and inclusivity, I have worked tirelessly to ensure that every child has access to the resources, support, and opportunities they need to thrive academically and personally. Together with my esteemed colleagues on the school committee, as well as our dedicated educators, administrators, parents, and community members, we have achieved significant progress in advancing the goals of Sippican and the ORR District. From implementing innovative programs to improving student outcomes and closing achievement gaps, we have worked collaboratively to ensure that our schools remain at the forefront of educational excellence. However, there is more work to be done. As we look to the future, we will confront new challenges and opportunities that enhance the quality of education. Whether it’s addressing the social and emotional needs of our students, or advocating for adequate funding and resources, or keeping our curriculum up to date and equitable for all learners, I am fully committed to facing these challenges head-on and ensuring that Sippican continues to thrive. I believe that my experience, dedication, and proven record make me uniquely qualified to continue serving on the School Committee. I have served as a chair and co-chair, served on the budget and contract negotiations committees. With your support, I will continue to be a tireless advocate for our students, teachers, and schools, working diligently to uphold the values and principles that define Sippican and our district. I am deeply committed to earning your support once again and to working collaboratively with all stakeholders to build a brighter future for our children and our community. Thank you for your continued support.