Get Summer Sorted

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ArtStart is the MAC’s summer art program for children ages 4 1/2 to 9 years, offered in June and July each year. ArtStart teachers are specialists in music, dance, theater and art, most of whom teach throughout the year and are professionals in their fields. Activities include arts and crafts, theater, music, games and storytelling. The ArtStart program runs weekly, from 9:00 am‒12:30 pm daily, except for July 4. The cost for each 5-day session is $250 for MAC Members and $290 for nonmembers, while the 4-day session costs $200 and $235, respectively. Session one begins June 24. The final, fifth session ends on July 26. View all details and register online at marionartcenter.org/artstart.

            All Things Art is an immersive weeklong program which takes place in late summer and is geared toward young artists ages 10-15. During their time in the Art Studio, young artists will experiment with a number of practices, techniques and media such as drawing, sculpting, printmaking, fiber arts, working with clay and more. Learn how to talk about art making and what inspires one’s creative choices. Some class time will be spent outdoors, weather permitting. The program runs weekly, from 9:00 am‒12:30 pm Monday-Friday, July 29 through August 16. The cost is $250 for MAC Members and $290 for nonmembers, plus a $55 materials fee per student. View all details and register online at marionartcenter.org/all-things-art.

            Dungeons & Dragons: The Guild of Imagination’s mission is to empower learners in exploring their creativity, embracing diverse perspectives and fostering lifelong curiosity through immersive storytelling experiences. Dungeons & Dragons at the runs from Monday, August 5 through Friday August 9 from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm daily. The program is suitable for ages 10-15. The cost for the five-day session is $240 for MAC Members and $275 for nonmembers. With a focus on fostering creativity, teamwork, and problem solving, Dungeons & Dragons ignites imaginations and nurtures storytelling skills. This unforgettable experience will forge friendships in a safe and supportive environment, and create memories that will last a lifetime. View all details and register online at marionartcenter.org/d-and-d.

            Current MAC membership at the Family level ($75) or above is required for discounted tuition on programs.

Mattapoisett Annual Town Meeting & Election

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The Town of Mattapoisett’s Annual Town Meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 13. The meeting will begin at 6:30 pm in the Old Rochester Regional High School Auditorium, 135 Marion Road. More information regarding the warrant, articles will be available in the coming weeks on the town website.

            The Town of Mattapoisett’s Annual Town Election will be held on Tuesday, May 21, at Old Hammondtown School which is located at 20 Shaw Street. The polls will be open from 8 am until 8 pm. If you have already requested a mail in ballot for all elections this year, you will receive a ballot for the Annual Town Election in the mail as soon as they are available.

            Please call the Town Clerk’s Office at 508-758-4100 x 2 if you have any questions relating to either of these very important events or check the official town website at www.mattapoisett.net.

Bylaw Amendments Recommended

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Rochester’s Planning Board Tuesday voted to recommend the five zoning bylaw amendments proposed for the May 13 Annual Town Meeting after a public hearing and some minor tweaking of their language.

            The board approved “as written” a bylaw language change mandating 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 board also endorsed four other bylaw language changes. One would require that a proposed back lot in the Agricultural-Residential District be owned by the applicant for at least five years prior to an application to develop it. Another would mandate that lot access shall only being allowed through or across a viable, legal road frontage. The third amendment would hold that the required rectangular shape of a lot will no longer need to be within the 40-foot setback line.

            Planning Board Chairman Arnold Johnson said the back-lot amendment corrects a loophole that Town Counsel pointed out needs to be fixed. “The language didn’t say specifically what we thought it said,” Johnson said. “Now it’s specific.”

            Regarding the lot-shape amendment, he said, “We are just formalizing what we’ve already been doing.”

            The fourth amendment the board endorsed would clarify that the town’s ground-mounted solar photovoltaic overlay district is better defined as being town-owned land on High Street, not to include a privately owned parcel also at 0 High Street.

            The board, however, took more time before endorsing a new bylaw adopting regulations for the construction and permitting of battery-energy storage systems, which are used mainly by solar-energy-array facilities. A small, residential, battery storage system, what board members called a tier-one system, would be exempt. But board members agreed that all other installations, tiers two and three, shall need a special permit and a site-plan review from the Planning Board. They also agreed that no such energy storage system may be permitted in a groundwater-protection district or inside the Mattapoisett River Valley Water District.

            In other action, the Planning Board endorsed Approval Not Required applications for two newly proposed house lots at 0 Bishop Road filed by Marc T. Wilson, whose legal representative explained his client is creating two, new Form-A lots out of the property, both the required frontage and upland, and will be selling off one of the lots.

            The board reviewed its draft decision approving JPF Development LLC’s plan to construct a 15-acre, self-storage facility with seven storage buildings and a total of 300 units within the Industrial District at Kings Highway and Route 28. Johnson said the board will formally sign the decision at its next meeting.

            The Rochester Planning Board will participate in the town’s Interdepartmental meeting to be held on Wednesday, May 1, at 6:00 pm at the Rochester Senior Center on Dexter Lane.

Rochester Planning Board

By Michael J. DeCicco

But I Read It on Facebook!

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The Internet has led to democratization of information access. Information that was locked away in libraries or simply not readily available to most of us can now be found with a simple search.

            Along with that, however, has come a flood of misinformation. When you do a Google search, the leading links may be pure gold or utter dross. How can you tell the difference?

            If you were to open your favorite social media site and read that Frigidaire appliances were suddenly bursting into flames, would you immediately put your refrigerator out on the street? I doubt it – you would probably check this out on Consumer Reports or call your appliance store. You would also apply your common sense.

            So, why is it that some of my patients would come to a visit and say they had stopped their cholesterol medication because they saw a post that the medicine caused dementia?

            Anything can be posted on the Internet. Some flagrantly racist or other hate speech may (or these days may not) be taken down, but grossly misleading health information usually stays online.

            When you search, the top hits are often sponsored links or sites that have carefully managed their description to get a high ranking, with minimal relation to the quality of the content.

            How can you tell if a site is worth visiting? Focus on the messenger before looking at the message. The best place to look for scientifically valid and unbiased information are sites maintained by the National Institutes of Health. These will always have the domain nih.gov as part of their URL. Another great source of information is the National Library of Medicine, whose URL will contain medlineplus.gov.

            If these do not give you what you want, go next to websites maintained by major medical centers such as the Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins or Mass General-Brigham. These will obviously lean towards attracting patients to their institution, but still have high quality content.

            Avoid celebrity sites and those that are trying to sell products or services.

            The quickest way to decide if a link is likely to be useful is to go first to those tagged .gov, then to those tagged .edu and third to those tagged .org.

            When seeking health information, caveat emptor!

            Dr. Ed Hoffer is the chairman of the Marion Board of Health, a graduate of MIT and Harvard Medical School. He is Associate Professor of Medicine, part-time, at Harvard and a Senior Scientist at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

What Does The Doctor Say?

By Dr. Ed Hoffer

Church of the Good Shepherd Rummage Sale

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Church of The Good Shepherd, 74 High Street, Wareham is having its annual spring rummage sale on Saturday, May 11 from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. Items include clothing, coats, shoes, books, puzzles, games, toys, small furnishings, domestic and white elephant items. All proceeds to benefit the many outreach programs for the community and beyond.

Matt York at the Mattapoisett Library

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We are thrilled to announce Matt York will be visiting us at the Mattapoisett Free Public Library on Saturday, May 4 at 2 pm to present Johnny Cash-Songs and Stories.

            A longtime New England musician/author Matt York will perform the songs of Johnny Cash and tell stories about Cash’s career, spanning from his early beginnings in the 1950’s to his passing in 2003. York was recently nominated for the Boston Music Award for Best Country Artist and his album Gently Used was named one of Patriot Ledger’s best albums of 2022.

            No registration required. All programs are free and open to the public. If you have any questions, please contact Michelle Skaar at mskaar@sailsinc.org. You can also find more information on our website at MattapoisettLibrary.org.

Stroke Awareness Walk in Marion

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The Marion Fire Department, Board of Health and Council on Aging are partnering to kick off Stroke Awareness Month with a healthy walk around the walking path located at the Cushing Community Center on Route 6 on May 1 at 10:00 am.

            During the event, town representatives will promote healthy living and awareness about stroke-risk factors, signs and symptoms, and how to lower your risk of having a stroke. We will also have light refreshments for attendees.

            Come share with us a morning of exercise, education, and learn more about the upcoming events that we have planned for Stroke Awareness Month.

SOA to Address ‘High Needs’ Students

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            Dr. Shari Fedorowicz, the Old Rochester Regional School District’s assistant superintendent of Teaching and Learning, explained the difference between the Student Opportunity Act and ORR’s School Improvement Plan during the April 4 meeting of the Rochester School Committee.

            The slice of money that will come into Rochester for this program ($15,000) is relatively low, according to Fedorowicz, who nonetheless says the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) will help determine learning gaps and areas of need.

            The SOA focuses on high-need students and is necessarily new every three years, and it is founded upon evidence-based programs for students with low academic performance.

            Narrowed down to five areas, the SOA targets: academic support and acceleration, comprehensive approach to early literacy and early literacy screening and support, expanded access to pre-Kindergarten, enhanced pathways to increase educator diversity and high-quality secondary pathways and programs.

            Fedorowicz clarified that the SOA is not a grant but a $30-per-student boost to Chapter 70 (state) funding for the outlined purposes. In the case of Rochester, $15,000 was “embedded” within Chapter 70 funding to fund the SOA, which needs school committee approval and ultimately, approval from DESE.

            Fedorowicz said that Rochester has relatively low diversity in its student body but has nearly 34% of which are categorized as “high needs” based on data points, including MCAS. Low-income students (20.6%) and students with disabilities (18.1%) also make up large segments targeted by the SOA.

            The committee heard a presentation from Interim Director of Student Services Kris Lincoln on updates to the Individual Education Plan (IEP), last updated in 2001. The updated IEP will feature a new form that will map out the areas of support available to students needing IEP’s. The program will begin with the 2024-25 school year and be reviewed throughout the year, supplemented with professional-development opportunities.

            The committee held a brief public hearing on School Choice for the 2024-25 school year and voted unanimously to remain out of the program. Prior to the public hearing, ORR Superintendent of Schools Mike Nelson noted that historically, Rochester has not been a School Choice community.

            The committee accepted the donation of $1,000 from community member and regular PanMass Challenge participant William Goldsmith to be used towards gym equipment.

            The following books offered to RMS by residents Nicole and Greg Hardy, “Life Skills for Kids” by Karen Harris; “Inspiring Stories for Amazing Boys” by Emily Green; “Inspiring Stories for Amazing Girls” by Eva Kinsley; “Elephants Are Not Birds, Saga One” by Ashley St. Clair; “Good Bears Always Tell the Truth (Cubs to Bears);” “Otto’s Tales Today is Flag Day” by PragerU; “Otto’s Tales Today is Father’s Day” by PragerU; “Otto’s Tales Today is Mother’s Day” by PragerU; “Otto’s Tales Today is Thanksgiving” by PragerU and “What Should Danny Do? On Vacation!” by Ganit and Adir Levey, were declined by the committee.

            Before the vote, Nelson reported that the school librarian cited a lack of professional review of the books in recommending that they do not meet the criteria for approval.

            Upon a motion to decline the donation, Nicole Hardy argued on behalf of the books and against the committee’s rejection thereof to the point where Chairperson Sharon Hartley called a point of order in the meeting that Hardy ignored, resuming her argument.

            Committee member Anne Fernandes questioned the limit of the resources used to establish professional review and suggested that other sources should be considered beyond those customarily used by the librarian. Fernandes’ was the lone dissenting vote against the decline of the donation.

            The committee unanimously approved a fundraiser called Double Good for the sixth-grade class involving the sale of popcorn, 50% of every purchase going a parent-run carnival.

            Fernandes initiated a discussion on parent volunteers, asking if the COVID-canceled activity has been restored and to what degree. Rochester Memorial School Principal Heidi Letendre said there are many volunteers at RMS subject to CORI (background) checks.

            The committee heard financial, food services and facilities reports from Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Howie Barber, who noted a job opening in the Food Services Department.

            In her report, Hartley said the superintendent’s review subcommittee met and that news should be forthcoming shortly on that front.

            In his report, Nelson promoted an acceleration camp for April vacation week and also noted that the capital requests made by ORR to the Town of Rochester for facility upgrades were being supported by the town’s Capital Planning Committee.

            Fedorowicz reported that Rose Bowman, recently retired as principal of Mattapoisett Schools, would be addressing teachers on parent-teacher communication.

            During Open Comment, resident Karen Thomas noted that the same arguments made on behalf of a book that was unsuccessfully challenged by a citizen could apply to the books declined by the committee on this night.

            Nelson noted that the READS Collaborative Quarterly Report Overview is available for review.

            The committee entered executive session and reasons 3 (strategy for negotiations) and 7 (compliance).

            The next meeting of the Rochester School Committee is scheduled for Thursday, June 6, at 6:30 pm at Rochester Memorial School, and the next meeting of the Joint School Committee is scheduled for Thursday, June 20, at 6:30 pm at ORR Jr. High School media room.

Rochester School Committee

By Mick Colageo

Rebuilding Cougars Look to Leaders

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            As the Old Colony Regional Vocational-Technical High School girls’ varsity softball season begins, the fans and families of Old Colony are compelled to see the upcoming season underway.

            Last year, the team’s win-loss ratio was 8 wins, 10 losses. However, with a young team and only three returning players on the roster this year, the hope for the team is to improve that record.

            The returning starters, who have been reported to be as solid as they come, are junior Patty Spillane, junior Kayleigh DeSousa and senior Lindsey Bacchiocchi, the latter referred to as “a big weapon” by Coach Brandon Mendez.

            With these three returning players leading the way, the team goal is to gain experience and improve their skills in order to make it into the Mayflower Athletic Conference playoffs.

Old Colony Sports Roundup

By Logan Hamlet and Brianna Mello

Leaf Blowers, Chain Saws, Detours and Cicadas

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There has been much to worry about, large and small, happening in the world these days: bridges collapsing, airplane doors falling off, wildfires, flash flooding and noisy cicadas.

            But fear not, spring is here to soothe the soul. It is the season that brings us daffodils and crocuses, the warm sun caressed by cooling sea breezes, the sweet sound of birds singing, green grass and … leaf blowers!

            It seems only yesterday that this scourge of fall that attacked our senses cleaning up their namesake had vanished into hibernation. Now they’re back, an autumnal symphony of ear-piercing noise arriving abruptly when you least expect them, seemingly at the stroke of dawn or during your afternoon nap.

            It’s as if a rock concert has suddenly materialized in the neighborhood. In fact, according to people who measure these things, leaf blowers can exceed 100 decibels, about the same as a rock concert!

            One study by the nonprofit Quiet Communities and the EPA found that leaf-blower noise can “penetrate through walls.” Wow!

            The study must have included one poor fellow (hashtag #beatleafblowers on X, formerly known as Twitter) who told his neighbors that their landscaper’s leaf blowers shook his house. They told him to go fly a kite. So he set up an amplifier on his deck, put on his silencing headphones, and blared hip-hop at the highest volume. Unfortunately, the neighbors couldn’t hear the music over the sound of the blowers and were not disturbed. Not sure who won that battle.

            According to the California Air Resources Board, operating a gas-powered leaf blower for one hour spews as much pollution as driving a car from Los Angeles to Denver. That may be why seven states, including California, have banned them and 200 towns around the country have restrictions on when they can be used. Even the Massachusetts Noise Code prohibits loud sounds. It says that “… yelling, shouting, hooting, whistling or singing” are prohibited before 7:00 am. Certainly, that must include leaf blowers. And, I’ll be sure to tell that to the owls and the birds.

            Next time you enjoy a nice smoothie, think of Dom Quinto who, in the 1950s modified a pesticide sprayer to blow away debris. His inspiration was a blender machine he saw in a restaurant. Now all leaf-blower haters have someone to blame.

            Adding to the cacophony are the ever-present chain saws, which appear in spring like those cicadas but never leave. Even the cicadas go away for 17 years. They are the preferred toys of amateur landscapers and professionals alike. Chain saws are the bane of tree lovers of the world.

            Making matters worse, the purveyors of these spring annoyances park their trucks on the sidewalk, forcing walkers who dare come near to sidle into the street, daring disaster from speeding motorists and inconsiderate cyclists.

            If you decide to go for a ride to avoid the spring festival of sound, beware spring also brings road construction. Recently I encountered a detour that sent me to another detour that sent me back to where I started. If you haven’t encountered a detour yet, you must be cowering under your bed covers with your head under the pillow suppressing those noisy leaf blowers and chain saws.

            Spring should not be so annoying.

            Editor’s note: Mattapoisett resident Dick Morgado is an artist and retired newspaper columnist whose musings are, after some years, back in The Wanderer under the subtitle “Thoughts on ….” Morgado’s opinions have also appeared for many years in daily newspapers around Boston.

Thoughts on…

By Dick Morgado