The ORRHS Boys Soccer Alumni Game will be held on Friday, November 28 at 1:00 pm at ORRHS. From the class of 2014 to the class of 1964, ORRHS soccer alums of all ages and shapes(!) are invited to play!!
For more information, please contact Coach Devoll at mdevoll@orr.mec.edu.
For their November book, “Just the Facts,” the nonfiction book discussion group, will be reading The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Family’s Century of Art and Loss by Edmund de Waal. The Ephrussis were a grand banking family in 19th century Paris and Vienna. Yet, by the end of World War II, almost the only thing remaining of their vast empire was a collection of 264 wood and ivory carvings, none of them larger than a matchbox. The renowned ceramicist Edmund De Waal became the fifth generation to inherit this small and exquisite collection of netsuke. Entranced by their beauty and mystery, he determined to trace the story of his family through the story of the collection. Starting in 1871 Paris, we travel through time with the collection. We will discuss this book on Thursday, November 20 at 6:30 pm. Copies are available at the desk.
Café Parlez’ selection for November is Jack Maggs by Peter Carey. The time: the 1830s. Jack Maggs, a foundling trained in the fine art of thievery, is cruelly betrayed and transported to Australia. Now, his fortunes reversed, he returns ‘home’ under threat of execution, and inveigles his way into a household in Great Queen Street, where he is quickly embroiled in various emotional entanglements, and where he falls under the hypnotic scrutiny of Tobias Oates, a celebrated young writer fascinated by mesmerism and obsessed with the criminal mind. We will discuss this version of Great Expectations on Monday November 24 at 6:30 pm. Books are available at the desk, or bring your own copy.
The Friends of Plumb Library are once again selling 12-inch wreaths. A 12-inch double sided wreath with a bow is $14; without a bow, the cost is $11. Order forms are at the library or can be copied from the newsletter link on our website www.plumblibrary.com. You can also place orders by phone at 508-763-8600 or email info@plumblibrary.com. Deadline for orders is Tuesday, December 2, and wreaths can be picked up from 10:00 am – 3:00 pm on Saturday, December 6. Special arrangements can be made for pickup if you cannot make it on that date. Call the library for more information.
Long-time Rochester Memorial School mascot Bandit the Raccoon was reelected by a landslide on November 7 when students cast their vote in an election that could have changed the school’s mascot after about 40 years with the raccoon.
While adults were dodging political phone calls and television ads the weeks leading up to the November 4 election, students at RMS were busy rallying behind their choice for a new mascot, or campaigning to keep the incumbent in place through a school-wide persuasive essay writing contest for grades three through six.
RMS Principal Derek Medeiros said he and his administrative team had been trying to come up with ways to engage students in an activity that would get the entire school involved, and “rally up the troops,” so to speak.
“It was more of an idea to get the kids writing … and pumping up together,” said Medeiros.
Students submitted essays and the top picks for a new mascot emerged, offering the choice to jettison the raccoon in favor of a newcomer – the ram or the wolf. In the end, the raccoon received 274 votes, the wolf 182, and the ram 71.
The top essay winners were Delany Shaw, grade 6, and Julia Foye, grade 4, arguing in support of keeping the raccoon. Runners-up were Griffin Lawrence, grade 6, who wrote supporting the wolf, and Evan Smith, grade 6, who wrote his essay trying to persuade students to vote for the ram.
“The kids were very passionate about it,” said Medeiros. The students debated and a lot of research went into the endeavor.
Medeiros said he contacted retired teacher Jody Church, who designed the raccoon mascot logo back in the 1970s when students voted to elect Bandit the Raccoon as their school mascot, looking for some history behind Bandit’s creation.
On Thursday, November 6 and then on Friday, November 7 students participated in an actual election, complete with voting booths on loan from the Town and “I voted” stickers.
“Just the whole thing of bringing everybody together,” said Medeiros, was what made the project such a success.
By Jean Perry
Christine L. (Tavares) Hulland, 62, of Wareham, died peacefully on November 15, 2014 in Tremont Rehabilitation and Skilled Care Center while surrounded by her loving family. She was the wife of Thomas W. Hulland.
She was born in Pittsfield and lived in Wareham for many years.
Mrs. Hulland worked as the office manager at Skyline Marble in Middleboro.
She enjoyed traveling to North Carolina to the Outer Banks with her husband, sitting on her deck watching wildlife and reading. An avid Facebook enthusiast, she also enjoyed ancestry research. She was the Massachusetts Representative for the Coast 2 Coast Dachshund Rescue Program. She loved her dogs, Abbey, Jazz and the late Heidi and Georgie.
Mrs. Hulland was a member of the Community Baptist Church in Marion.
Survivors include her husband, Thomas W. Hulland of Wareham; her mother, Shirley H. Tavares of New Lebanon, NY; 2 daughters, Jennifer Darrow of Ft. Meyers, FL (formerly of Dalton), Charlene Lopez of Pittsfield; a step daughter, Michelle Hulland of Port St. Lucie, FL; 3 brothers, John, William and Mark Tavares all of New Lebanon, NY; a sister, Beverly Grochan and her husband Mark of East Nassau, NY; 3 nieces, Abigail Jensky of East Nassau, NY, Ashley Tavares of New Lebanon, NY and Sena of New London, NY; 2 nephews, William Tavares and Benjamin Tavares both of New Lebanon, NY; 7 grandchildren, Eric, Andrew, Dylan, Sammy, Lauren, Laura, and Christian.
Her memorial and worship service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, November 23, 2014 in the Community Baptist Church, 441 Front St., Marion.
Another memorial service in New Lebanon, NY will be held at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to the Coast 2 Coast Dachshund, P.O. Box 147, Jacobus, PA 17407.
Albert Mello, Jr., 68, of Fairhaven passed away unexpectedly Thursday, November 13, 2014, at Beth Israel Hospital, in Boston. He was the husband of 38 years, of Pauline (Bettencourt) Mello.
Born and raised in New Bedford, the son of the late Albert and Maria (Brum) Mello, he lived in Mattapoisett prior to settling in Fairhaven 40 years ago. Albert served in the Army during the Vietnam War and had been a salesman at Joe’s Auto Mall in New Bedford for many years.
He is survived by his wife; his mother in law, Loretta (Pauline) Bettencourt of Fairhaven; two daughters, Lori Ann Mello and Kimberly Palmer Harne and her husband Eric of Fairhaven; a sister, Bernice McLoughlin of East Freetown; a brother, Elliot Mello and his wife Theresa of South Dartmouth; two brothers in law, Jerald Bettencourt, Jr. and his wife Lori of Fairhaven and Raymond Bettencourt and his wife Maria Fe of Colorado and several nieces and nephews. Mr. Mello was the father of the late infant Chris Dwane Mello and brother of the late Stanley Mello of New Bedford.
Calling hours are Monday, November 17, 2014. from 4-7pm. in the Fairhaven Funeral Home, 117 Main Street, Fairhaven. Cremation will follow and interment will be private.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to a charity of your choice.
To the Editor:
Friends of the Bike Path would like to thank the Mattapoisett Friends’ Meeting as well as participants and shoppers for the success of the 2nd annual Alternative Gift Fair held on November 8. Bike Friendly Mattapoisett maps will continue to be sold at Town Wharf General Store, How on Earth, No Kidding, Pen and Pendulum as well as Mattapoisett Clipper. These maps make great stocking stuffers!
For those of you who would like to know what has happened since the September 25th public hearing, – and thank you all for coming out and writing letters – MASSDOT has said we should prepare a schedule for going to bid in October 2015, but before we can do that we need to ensure there are sufficient funds in the five year Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP). So, please like us on Facebook to get the date, time, and location for the TIP public hearing in our region, which should be happening soon. An informational meeting with Conservation Commission is planned, but not yet scheduled.
Bonne DeSousa
Friends of the Bike Path
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.
The Rochester Animal Inspector has commenced barn and kennel inspections as of November 1, 2014.
Rochester Memorial School is still looking to establish a breakfast meal program at the school, although it remains uncertain if enough students will show an interest in the program.
RMS Principal Derek Medeiros said on November 6 that parent outreach has so far resulted in at least eight students interested in the breakfast program, but the school will continue to probe parents on the likelihood of their children participating.
“We don’t want to put it to bed right away,” said Medeiros, adding that he will continue promoting a breakfast program for the remainder of the year.
School Committee member Robin Rounseville asked if there would need to be a minimum number of interested participants in order to start the program. According to Medeiros, other districts have begun their breakfast programs with only 20 students participating – is that the magic number?
“But if it’s ten or 15 (students), we’ll visit it,” said Medeiros. The level of interest will drive the decision on whether or not the school will establish the program, Medeiros said.
Also during the meeting, Medeiros told the Rochester School Committee that RMS has been selected to take the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
Fourth-graders will undergo only the math portion of the exam in February, and the data will represent Massachusetts in an assessment of schools nation-wide.
School Committee member Tina Rood expressed concern over students having to take yet another exam, prompting a further discussion on the matter.
“Is this sort of a feather in our cap?” asked Rood, wondering if there is any merit to having been chosen to participate.
RMS was chosen at random, Medeiros told her, and Assistant Superintendent Elise Frangos said, once selected, the school must participate and that is “non-negotiable.”
“It’s a kind of a dipstick, if you will,” said Frangos. She said the test would measure how students fare in Massachusetts.
The paper and pencil test is only about 60 minutes long, said Medeiros, with minimal prep time on behalf of the school staff.
In other matters, the committee accepted a cash donation of $250 from Attorney Matthew Beaulieu to be used strictly for the RMS Library.
The next meeting of the Rochester School Committee is scheduled for December 4 at 6:30 pm at the Rochester Town Hall.
By Jean Perry
One of the most uniquely talented people at Old Rochester Regional is definitely junior Kyle Costa. An amateur filmmaker, Costa has been making videos with his friends for over four years now, beginning with YouTube videos while he was in the sixth grade.
“I made a really stupid video on my bus, about a bus talk show, and people seemed to like it, so I just went with it,” said Costa.
Along the way, Costa has adapted to a handful of different technologies that he uses for his videos.
“I began using just a camera and a computer, but now I have a green screen, lights in my studio, and programs like Dolby After Effects and Magic Music Maker,” said Costa, who recently upgraded his camera to a Canon T3i, which he said is a good camera for filmmaking.
Most of Costa’s videos on YouTube are in the genre of action and sci-fi. “Occasionally, I write drama,” he added.
Costa said the most significant influence on his work is Director Christopher Nolan, who made 2008’s The Dark Knight.
“The Dark Knight made me interested in film, and Inception made me interested in writing and visual effects,” said Costa, adding that he is looking forward to seeing Nolan’s latest film, Interstellar, which opened Friday, November 7.
“Another influence on me when it comes to writing is Joss Whedon, who directed The Avengers,” said Costa. “Some of my other favorite films are The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the final Harry Potter movie. Both are classics.”
Along with fellow Honors English 10 student Sam Babineau, Costa directed a 3-D film trailer that answered some of the year’s Essential Questions from Mr. Allain’s Honors English 10 course, and the class was mesmerized by the quality of the video and most notably its 3-D effects.
“For the essential question video, Sam did the pre-production (writing) and I did the post-production,” said Costa. “I also did a 3-D post-conversion, where I moved the green-screen and duplicated the camera file to create different left-eye and right-eye perspectives.”
Another of Costa’s older projects he had completed was a fake trailer for a “Call of Duty” video game.
“It got 325,000 views and it was the first time I was paid for a YouTube video,” said Costa. “It wasn’t even something I directed; I just edited and made the effects for the video.”
Costa said he wants to further explore the world of drama and work on more serious projects.
“My next video is a blog about how I plan to make more serious videos,” Costa said. He would like to parlay his experience in video making into a career in the film or television industry. “I want to continue making videos, and doing the thing I love, and get more practice for a career in film or television.”
Some of his favorite videos of his own work are “Genetics” and “Teach Me How to Juggle” from the Geek Club, a junior high club taught by fan favorite teacher Mr. Andree. The club is well known for its video projects and open environment, among many other things.
“Kyle was never the best writer or moviemaker, but he is one of the most hard-working students I ever worked with,” said Andree. “Kyle took a small in-class project about junior high superheroes, and spent like 40 hours working on the effects, and turned it into something great.”
When asked how the Geek Club helps students, Mr. Andree said, “It gives kids a place to belong and hangout. They don’t have to be afraid to look stupid and they can be themselves.”
Andree thinks that Costa has a very promising future.
“He has good ideas in special effects, and camerawork, and he’s improving as a writer. I can see him making money doing special feature projects online, or directing those cool, cheesy made-for-TV movies,” said Andree.
One of the people who helped Costa along the way is fellow junior Sam Babineau. Sam shares a passion for filmmaking with Kyle, and as previously mentioned, worked on the writing for the Essential Question video in Mr. Allain’s Honors English class.
“I’ve been helping Kyle since eighth grade,” said Babineau. “Our best projects together were Genetics (The Super Hero Video) and the English project video.” She continued, “[Our next project will be] something with a storyline, both playing off and building upon stuff we’ve done.”
Thanks to his hard work and support from his loyal co-workers, it’s clear that Costa has done some great things with his video projects. He is definitely someone to watch for in the future.
By Patrick Briand
Marion Boy Scout Troop 32 and Cub Scouts Pack 32, in conjunction with the Marion Police Department and the Marion Police Brotherhood, will be collecting donations for a local food pantry from Wednesday, November 5 until noon on Sunday, November 15. Please bring your non-perishable food to the Marion Police Department located at 500 Mill Street Marion, MA. Thank you for your generous support!
Some of the most needed/ requested non-perishable food and hygiene items (no glass, please) include:
– Canned protein (tuna, chicken, peanut butter)
– Soups
– 100% fruit juice
– Grains (pasta, rice, macaroni & cheese)
– Canned vegetables and fruits
– Condiments
– Hygiene products (diapers, toilet paper, tissues, soap, toothpaste)