Joseph N Minarik

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Joseph N Minarik, 84, of Wellfleet, passed away peacefully in his home surrounded by his family and close friend Dan Dunn by his side on December 30, 2015. Joe is the dear son of the late Joseph J. and Barbara (Pisarcik) Minarik. In 1952 Joe married his high school sweetheart Evelyn Giba, with whom they have shared 63 years together; January would have been their 64th wedding anniversary. Also in 1952 Joe joined the United States Army and stationed in Germany until 1954. When his service to his country ended, he and Evelyn bought a house in Elmwood Park, NJ, taking up roots in the town Joe grew up in. Joe and Evelyn raised three children together. He soon after partnered with George Russo and went into the cabinet making business; he later moved on to working with R&M Cabinet Making and finally became his own craftsman, opening his own cabinetry business. In 1960 Joe owned a warehouse and office in Elmwood and rented it out to Gordon Williams. Joe donated his time to help Gordon build up his business, importing Stihl chain saws. While Joe taught himself how to repair saws and gain experience in mechanics, he was serving as vice president; overseeing orders, shipping and receiving and setting up distributors. In 1974 Stihl bought out Gordon and moved their operations to Virginia Beach, Joe remained with Gordon until 1976 when Joe moved to Wellfleet. He set up a Stihl dealership where he had the pleasure of working with his son, Joe Jr., until selling the business in 1985. Joe moved on to become a dedicated worker at Bayberry Garden Center in Truro, MA for 10 years until his retirement in 2013. In retirement, Joe enjoyed spending time with his family and friends and was an accomplished gardener. He would graciously give out all kinds of vegetables to individuals and also sell them to local restaurants.

Joe leaves behind his devoted wife, Evelyn, and his dedicated children Joe Minarik, Jr., and his wife Karen from East Falmouth, MA, and Robert Minarik from Rochester, MA. He is survived by his caring sister Irene Mylor of Elmwood Park, NJ. Joe will truly be missed by his cherished grandsons Michael Minarik of Nantucket, MA and Thomas Minarik from Rochester, MA, his nephews: Tom Ralicki, Rich Rucidlo, Michael Rucidlo, and Dave Rucidlo and nieces: Barbara McCauley, Ellen Hudzik, Karen Mylor, Denise Campos and Sharon Della Penna as well as many loving great nieces and nephews. Joe was pre-deceased by his daughter Lynn Minarik.

A Memorial Visitation was held on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016 at Nickerson Funeral Home with a Celebration of Life Service which followed. Burial was at Massachusetts National Cemetery. Donations in Joe’s memory may be made to the National Kidney Foundation , C/O Finance Department, 30 East 33rd St., New York, NY 10016 or www.kidney.org. For online condolences, please visit www.nickersonfunerals.com.

Marion TA to Take Medical Leave

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Marion Town Administrator Paul Dawson announced on February 2 that he would be taking a leave of absence and asked the Board of Selectmen to officially approve his request.

Dawson said that after speaking to each of the selectmen individually in private, he was requesting a medical leave of absence under the Family and Medical Leave Act.

“I expect to be gone for eight to ten weeks to deal with a medical issue that you all know about,” Dawson said motioning to the selectmen.

Dawson did not specifically identify the medical condition publically.

Town administrators of the neighboring towns of Mattapoisett, Acushnet, Dartmouth, and Carver have offered their support to Dawson and to the town while Dawson is away, offering any assistance the town may need for the duration of Dawson’s absence.

In the interim, under the suggestion of Dawson, Marion’s Finance Director Judith Mooney will act on Dawson’s behalf during his medical leave.

“Although it seems like a long time, this … is a relatively small compact period of time,” said Dawson. He told selectmen he highly recommended Mooney for the task and offered residents some reassurance. “Judy’s got a lot of experience and I think she can handle this as well.”

Board of Selectmen Chairman Stephen Cushing wished Dawson luck.

Dawson will take his leave starting February 11.

In other matters, a mysterious smell at the Town House has stirred up air quality concerns after several employees complained of a strong odor resulting in occasional headaches.

“They come and go,” said Dawson of the odors. At first, he said, employees wondered if perhaps a deceased animal could be the source of the smell, but he doubted it since the smell is often transient and only experienced at different times.

However, the town ordered air quality samples to be taken and tested, which are out for analysis and should be reported next week.

Dawson was pleased to announce the town has been awarded $15,000 from a grant program the town applied for to purchase one electric car and install one charging station.

The town was also awarded the $200,000 from the Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program to perform feasibility studies to determine if houses in the Indian Cove area of Marion and Aucoot Cove area of Mattapoisett could be connected to municipal sewer. Dawson said the town would now contemplate how it will move forward with the funds.

Also during the meeting, residents Joseph Zora and Jay Hiller took their time in explaining a property dispute the two parties have with the Town of Marion over access to their property from Parlowtown Road, which is no longer open.

The two dove deep into the minutia of the matter, occasionally leading a selectman or two to wonder what it was the two gentlemen wanted exactly and why they were there.

Zora said the main issue was access to his land via Parlowtown Road, which appears to be owned by the Town, although Zora said the property has a dubious past he uncovered through extensive historical research and real estate records dating all the way back to the 1700s.

“One thing that is crystal clear,” said Dawson, “is the issue of access.” Dawson said the town at one point entered into an easement with the Sippican Lands Trust, saying, “For right or wrong, good or bad, it was done. But beyond that,” continued Dawson, “there’s just been a number of issues.”

It appears there may be several claims to the Parlowtown Road access property, which might only be solved through expensive title reports.

Zora and Hiller left two large binders and a milk crate of documentation for selectmen to consider. Zora said he hopes the town can help resolve the matter in a friendly manner; however, he implied he would take the matter to court if needed in order to resolve it.

“I feel we’ve been denied our basic rights,” said Zora.

In other business, selectmen denied the request to place a No Parking sign at Marconi Village at the request of Eileen Marum, with Selectman Jonathan Henry dissenting, saying that he did see that parking was problematic at the site.

After a robust debate, Selectman Jody Dickerson and Cushing said they were siding with the police and fire chiefs on the matter, rendering it resolved.

The next meeting of the Marion Board of Selectmen is scheduled for February 16 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Town House.

By Jean Perry

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Gateway Youth Hockey

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Squirts: Gateway Gladiator Squirts took to the ice on Sunday morning with the mindset to get a win, and they did. Facing Walpole Express, the Gladiators were able to give Walpole their first loss in the Yankee Conference by the score of 6-3. In the first period, Ty David Ribeiro scored, assisted by Matthew Paling putting the Gladiators on the board early. Paling later came in with an unassisted goal. In the second, Walpole scored a goal of its own, but Paling countered with his second goal of the game, assisted by Jacob Hebbel, and Ribeiro soon answered, making the score 3-1. Walpole heated things up later in the period, getting two back-to-back goals on goalie Thomas Leger. In the third period, Ribeiro added an unassisted goal and Paling scored his third goal of the game, giving him and Ribeiro hat tricks for the game.

Pee Wees: The Gateway Pee Wee Gladiators played Walpole Express on Sunday. The team played well and after falling behind, Gateway got on the board in the second period off of an unassisted goal by RJ Vickery. Toward the end of the third period, Gateway was down by three when Stephen Old scored a goal with 31 seconds remaining, but the last effort was not enough to overcome the deficit and Gateway lost by a score of 4-2.

Bantams: The Bantam Gladiators dug deep and found a way to beat their season nemesis, Walpole Express, by the score of 6-2 on a tremendous team effort and a five-goal performance by Quirino doCanto. The Gladiators jumped ahead early in the first period when doCanto blocked a pass, went the other way on a break away, and beat the goalie with a quick wrist shot. For his second score of the day, doCanto deflected home a shot taken by Bryan Gallagher. Walpole would get back in the game quickly, cutting the deficit in half, just sneaking one by goalie Zachary Pateakos. They would tie it up late in the second period, but the Gladiators didn’t let it stay that way for long, as less than a minute later, James L’Heureux tipped home a shot from Jackson St. Don. doCanto would score his third goal later in the second on assists from brothers Tyler and Zack Lovendale. With the score 4-2 after two periods, the Gladiators kept up the intensity, which led to doCanto scoring his fourth goal of the game, with T. Lovendale and Bethany Davis getting assists. doCanto’s final goal was scored off a rebound from a shot taken by Gallagher. It was an overall team effort, completed by a great day in net for Pateakos.

Middle School: The MS Jr. Vikings took a tough 6-3 loss to Franklin. Franklin jumped ahead early scoring just four minutes into the game. They scored again, late in the first period, leaving the score at the end of the first period, 2-0. The Jr. Vikings would strike first in the second period, when Robert Ramsay went in by himself and beat the sprawling goalie to bring the Jr. Vikings within a goal. Franklin wouldn’t allow the tenacious Jr. Vikings get back in the game, though, scoring two more goals late in the second period as well as two early in the third period. Ramsay would add another goal in the third on an assist from RJ Vickery. Ben DeMoranville also chipped in with a goal off some nifty passing from Quirino doCanto and Tyler Lovendale, making it 6-3. Jacob DeMoranville and Alex DeMarco both played well in net, but just couldn’t stop all the shots.

Mattapoisett Democratic Town Committee

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Is 2016 the Year You Decide to be More Involved in Your Community?

Mattapoisett has many opportunities for residents to participate in local government. Have you ever thought about volunteering to serve on one of the numerous committees where members are appointed rather than elected? Are you interested in Culture and the Arts, Services for the Disabled, Recreation Programs, or services for seniors? These are just a few of the many town committees that provide services to residents and depend on volunteers. Or have you ever considered running for office? The Mattapoisett Democratic Town Committee is sponsoring an informational meeting designed to encourage Mattapoisett residents to serve our town in a number of different ways.

Please join us on Wednesday, February 10 from 5:00 – 6:30 pm in the downstairs conference room at the Mattapoisett Public Library, 7 Barstow Street, Mattapoisett.

Our panel of speakers will include Town Administrator Michael Gagne, Town Clerk Catherine Heuberger, and Selectman Paul Silva. Panel members will share information about the town committees where members are appointed, not elected. You will learn about the many town committees that exist and how you might seek an appointment to a committee. Information will also be shared about how to file papers with the town and state for those who are interested in the possibility of running for public office. We hope you will come to our meeting to hear how your particular interest or skill might benefit our town.

A question and answer period will follow the formal presentation. Members of various committees will be present to answer specific questions about their committees.

This presentation is free and open to all regardless of political affiliation. For more information, contact the Mattapoisett Democratic Town Committee at mattdems@gmail.com.

Thoughts on Fame and Time

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To the Editor:

Thoughts on Fame and Time.

Do you know who Bob Dee is? Not likely. What about Harry Oliver or Charlie Hoefer? Don’t think so? I’m not surprised. Dee, Oliver and Hoefer were star athletes on the original Boston Patriots, Bruins and Celtics. You might call them foundation blocks in the building of their respective teams – teams that would go on to become successful examples of hard work, perseverance and excellence for which their organizations are known. Unfortunately, their names and individual accomplishments have been lost to time.

Not long ago Buddy Thomas, writing in New Bedford’s The Standard-Times, proclaimed the top athletes on the SouthCoast in basketball and football in the last 50 years. Michael Conceicao wrote a fine article in The Standard-Times presenting his personal top 100 SouthCoast basketball players of all time. “All time” started in 1972. Thomas chose his time frame because those are the years he had been covering sports in the area. Conceicao’s “all-time” list reached back to his high school years.

It is human nature to view things in the perspective of one’s own experience. Outstanding athletes, politicians, or movie stars fade in memory and become mere footnotes in history. When their names do come up, we may not view their contributions in the context of the era and instead judge them by today’s standards.

Recently, the Old Rochester Sports Hall of Fame … an organization dedicated to honoring outstanding athletes’ accomplishments … named their latest class of seven inductees. All of the Hall’s 34 individual members are deserving of their honored place in the school’s sports history. Alas, only two played before 1966 and only one in the school’s first three years of existence. It is true that records are lost and statistics often pale in comparison to today’s bigger, stronger, faster and dare I say, smarter student athletes. While it is also true that the school had only three major sports in those early years (1961-64) and that all deserving athletes cannot be inducted at once, there are many who should not be forgotten. It is my hope that in the future, those that choose the honorees give thoughtful consideration to other factors in addition to statistics and records, newspaper clippings and familiarity.

Those outstanding athletes who were there at the beginning, many of whom are now in their 70s, must be considered foundation blocks in the building of Old Rochester’s long sports tradition of hard work, perseverance and excellence for which it has become known.

Richard Morgado, 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.

Wastewater Treatment from Flush to Finish

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Over the brook and through the woods one can find a place tucked away in a wooded corner of Marion where families of swans go every day to float upon sparkling wintery waters. Ducks congregate here and call it their home, and geese gather beneath clear blue skies under the watchful eyes of a loyal osprey couple that returns to this spot year after year.

Emerging from the surrounding woods is the occasional deer and random hungry coyote looking for a meal amongst the abundance of nature in this most unexpected habitat. There are goats that graze and chickens that roost to the distant humming of machines and pumps that operate as vital organs in a system constantly renewing a symbiotic cycle of life.

There to greet you are Samson and Goliath, a couple of llamas and the first friendly faces you will see as you round the bend and enter through the fenced-off area that protects this seemingly magical place. It is, in a way, if you want to talk about the miracle of modern engineering merging with biology – the miracle of poop processing.

Welcome to the Marion Wastewater Treatment Plant/petting zoo, our ‘number two’ installment of “Wastewater Treatment From Flush to Finish,” a tale that starts in your toilet and ends in Aucoot Cove – literally, the business of the ‘business’ of 1,648 homes in three main sections of Marion – the village, the “Berry” area, a part of Converse Road, and Delano and Dexter Beach.

In charge of this muck menagerie is Marion Water & Sewer Superintendent Frank Cooper. From his office in the control room, he operates the entire wastewater treatment process with a few clicks and keystrokes of his fingers, processing around 588,000 gallons of your flushings a day.

The plant uses a SCADE system which supervises and controls all the stops along the way once last night’s dinner makes its way from your house, through a low-pressure grinder pump, into the underground gravity system that pipes everything to 50 Benson Brook Road.

The computer screen looks a bit like a video game, except there is nothing ‘fun’ about wastewater treatment, unless you’re a fat, happy microscopic little anaerobic organism that’s got a 24-7 all-you-can-eat buffet of activated fudge. I mean sludge.

Cooper said a lot of work went into getting this software online and accessible via laptop and, only just recently, Cooper and his crew of four can now access the controls remotely using a smart phone app.

“This is something I’d been waiting for for some time,” said Cooper. If something were to need attention at the plant, “Now I don’t have to go running home if I’m out to dinner at Turk’s.”

An excursion of the site led by Superintendent/Tour Guide/Zoo Keeper Cooper through the plant began with the electrical room, in which is evidence of the complexity of Marion’s system.

This room of large computery-electric boxes full of technology and lined with rows of red and green lights, buttons, and gauges more sophisticated than this sentence is located beneath the main building along with the lab and the pump room, a room where the pipes run through assisted by, well, pumps.

A long pipe with the words “Waste Activated Sludge” on it hangs overhead, and pipes labeled “Wastewater” and “Plant Water” run parallel to each other in this rather tidy environment. It was a room for the imagination of one with little plumbing intellect. It all looked so clean and organized. You’d never know there was a nightmare of nasty flowing in such an organized fashion happening above.

Onward and upward to ground level, Cooper led me over to the two large side-by-side outside tanks where the real poop processing begins.

The tanks fill and alternate, with each running its own cycle. One does one thing while the other does its thing.

Approaching the tanks, we happened upon some ducks just hanging out in the sewer water floating with the floaters. They bolted from the pool of wastewater and Cooper said something while inspecting the tanks that made me pull a side look.

“This is looking good to me,” he said. “I like what I’m seeing. That’s a healthy-looking foam. A nice light brown.”

Just then the sound of pressurized air escaping surrounded us and I prayed that it was supposed to do that and I was just not unfortunate enough to be at the wrongest place at the wrongest time for an explosion.

Oh look, said Cooper. The aerator is turning on in Tank 2.

Aeration. The second step in the actual processing, after anoxic mix, which simply stirs the wastewater around. With aeration, tiny bubbles of air are released from the bottom and fizzle to the surface to oxygenate the “water” and make the little bacteria happy. (Think Wonka’s chocolate river.) It also helps release nitrogen, ‘number one’ offender in water pollution, an important matter that I swear we will get to.

After aeration, the wastewater just sits there in the ‘react’ part of processing where it is gently mixed to a finer consistency before the ‘settle’ process. That is when the heavier suspended solids sink to the bottom after the bacteria have digested their ‘food’ and dropped dead.

The ‘decant’ phase consists of a large trough that slowly pushes the wastewater down, acting like a French press – only this isn’t coffee and you certainly don’t want to drink it. From there, the diluted water travels to the equalization tank where it passes through a system of two large disks that further filters out the smaller solids.

The disk room wasn’t so bad, except for the swarms of dead poop flies stuck to the walls and the big lamp. They are called midges, and they look just like mosquitos, except they don’t bite, said Cooper reassuringly.

“There’s no such thing as a plant that doesn’t have them,” Cooper said. In the summer, sometimes there is an impenetrable cloud of them, just congregating above the two disks, reveling in the unnatural habitat we humans have created for them. (You’re welcome, midges.)

These disks give the wastewater its “final polishing,” as Cooper put it.

The UV room, where wastewater runs through for a final disinfecting, was my favorite room. Aside from the pretty lights, there was a non-wastewater smell to it I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Must, a sweet must. Old books. Yes, old books steeped in warm water. As a book lover, it was a smell I could only shamelessly describe as ‘sexy.’

I could have stayed in there longer, but there was more to see.

The clarified wastewater then begins the final leg of its journey. It flows through 4,000 feet of underground pipe, beneath Route 6, surfacing as “Effluent Brook,” which streams a half mile until reaching freedom in the marshes on the edge of Aucoot Cove.

Back at the plant, in addition to the goats, llamas, and chickens, there are these three elephants in the room, so to speak, and I was eager to meet them.

These three wastewater lagoons – the last stop for activated sludge and the center of the NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permit situation – are both critical and problematic now for Marion.

A critical component of the operation of the plant, the lagoons were created in 1971, a time when nitrogen pollution and the EPA were of no concern. That has changed and, with the EPA’s latest NPDES permit issued as a draft to the town, these unlined lagoons have got to go.

“We always knew that the day was coming that there would be a change in the process,” said Cooper. The levels of pollutants allowed have become more stringent with this new NPDES, and a number of municipalities are challenging the science behind the levels the EPA has determined at appropriate. “We’re not freaking out about that; we knew it was coming.”

The worst-case scenario would be a total overhaul of the plant. The town, however, has a defense it hopes will mitigate future costs to the town, although lining the lagoons is looking like it may be imminent.

Just by standing there looking at the 20 acres of water, covered with a thin sliver of silver ice with ducks standing on top and a family of five swans swimming on the far side of the largest lagoon, one would never know that a number of feet of condensed crap sits decomposing on the bottom.

Not only is it a seeming bird sanctuary, it also functions as a retaining system for overflow of sewage intake, holding it until it can be sent over for processing, with the sludge returning to settle on the bottom. Shutting them down would spell disaster for Marion.

“That underscores one reason why those lagoons are critical,” said Cooper.

The lagoons are simply lovely in the spring, or so I am told.

“I’ve got hundreds and hundreds of photos,” said Cooper. He has seen turtles, otters, even bird watchers who report rare species sightings.

“I got bird lovers out there and they freak out over what they see here,” said Cooper.    It is evident that Cooper takes pride in his work and in the lagoons.

“I’ve gotten a lot of compliments from the engineers on how well we do,” he said. “I know I love it here,” Cooper said looking out over the lagoons at the swans. “That’s why it’s so critical that they still have somewhere else to live.”

And who could argue that?

By Jean Perry

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Sippican Historical Society Receives Donation

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The Sippican Historical Society in Marion is pleased to announce that Margot Stone and her daughter, Robin Arms Shields, have donated an extensive collection of 19th century objects related to the whaling industry. This collection was assembled by the late David Arms, Margot’s former husband and Robin’s father. David was Vice President of the Sippican Historical Society and the driving force behind the creation of the nautical history room at the museum. According to Frank McNamee, current president of the Society, David had a vision to make the SHS a top-notch little museum. He searched antique shops, antique shows and auctions for appropriate items to place on display at the museum. Now the collection, which is valued at over $20,000, has been donated to the SHS by his family. Some of the important items include a large scrimshawed whale’s tooth depicting the Charles W. Morgan, a collection of whalebone fids and seam rubbers, needle cases, a spectacular assortment of Sandwich Glass whale oil lamps and a ship model of the whale ship Alice Mandell as well several telescopes. These items are great additions to the permanent collection of the SHS, and the Society is very grateful for their generosity.

Travis Roy Cup

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The 20th Annual Travis Roy Cup Hockey game will be played between the Tabor Academy Seawolves and the St. Sebastian’s Arrows on Saturday, February 6 at 2:30 pm in the Travis Roy ’95 Rink at Tabor Academy, 256 Front Street, Marion.

While admission is free, donations are heartily appreciated as this annual benefit event raises money for the Travis Roy Foundation. Travis Roy is a Boston legend and graduate of Tabor Academy. After his life changing accident during the first 11 seconds of his first collegiate hockey game, Travis set up the Travis Roy Foundation to help support others with spinal cord injuries. The foundation helps patients and their families by providing adaptive equipment to increase self-reliance and independence. They also fund efforts to find a cure through research; over $6 million has been raised to date.

The Tabor Academy Seawolves won the inaugural game in 1997, though currently the Arrows hold an edge in the series. The fun part is that both teams know the real winner of this contest is always The Travis Roy Foundation. The game has raised over $120,000 for this great cause over the years.

The teams invite you to come and join in the fun and support.

Discarded Boat Dumped a Second Time

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A boat that was found dumped on the side of Chapel Road in Mattapoisett on Wednesday, January 20, has again turned up – dumped on the side of the road in Freetown near the Freetown State Forest on Sunday, January 24.

The Wareham Harbormaster Department had been informing the public of emerging details on its Facebook page about the suspicious sight of a car headed down Route 6 toward Marion pulling a blue and white boat in a trailer in the middle of winter, an unusual site, said Harbormaster Gary Buckminster, but no cause for alarm – until it was reported as having been illegally dumped in Mattapoisett.

The Wareham Harbormaster Department then put out a call for the public to help identify the person driving the car described as an old Crown Victoria or Mercury Grand Marquis.

One Facebook user posted that he had seen the boat on Craigslist advertised as a free boat available.

It wasn’t long before Wareham was congratulating the Mattapoisett Police for tracking down the owner of the boat and calling him down to haul the boat away.

On January 24, Mattapoisett Police Chief Mary Lyons said, “He claimed that he had a trailer problem,” said Lyons, “of course, we know that wasn’t true, since he drove off with the trailer.”

The man who obtained the older model Glastron is Jay Podesky, according to the police report Chief Lyons told The Wanderer on Monday. She said that on Thursday, January 21, Podesky was informed that if he came to retrieve the abandoned boat by 2:00 pm that afternoon, no criminal charges would be filed. Podesky retrieved the boat and left.

Late night on January 24, the Wareham Harbormaster Department posted another curious announcement that the same boat has again been found, dumped on the side of the road in Freetown.

“We cannot believe that we are bringing you this story again,” read the Facebook post. “A blatant disrespect to public property and a repeat offense of illegal dumping which started in Mattapoisett and now made it to Freetown.”

The Wareham harbormaster identified the boat as the same one Podesky abandoned Wednesday night.

The Wareham harbormaster did not respond to a voicemail asking for comment.

A Facebook user said he was driving up Copicut Road and saw an older 1970s or 80s Mercedes towing a boat trailer.

The Massachusetts Environmental Police have been notified of the latest incident and are investigating.

By Jean Perry

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No Shadow Means Good News

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It’s official! Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow this morning, so he’s predicting an early spring. It’s easy to believe that he’s right with the unseasonably warm weather we’ve been having, and his recent predictions have been spot on. Now if we can just get him to pick a candidate in the election!