Mattapoisett COA Search for Caregivers

on September 18, 2015

The Mattapoiset COA is conducting a study that will focus on adult children caregivers who have cared for their parent(s) and are in the bereavement process of the caregiving journey. Would you be willing to share your first hand experiences with others? If so, the Mattapoisett COA wants to hear your story.

By sharing your story, you may benefit other caregivers. Your personal identity and confidentiality will be respected and maintained at all times.

If you are interesting in learning more about the program or are interested in becoming a participant, please call Dr. Ameia Yen-Patton at 508-758-3035 or by email to marilounewell@gmail.com.

Mattapoisett Free Public Library

on September 18, 2015

Registration for the eight-week fall storytime series begins on September 15 for both toddler and preschool sessions. Parents, grandparents and caregivers can register children at the circulation desk or by telephone at 508-758-4171. Details about the program are available from the children’s staff.

Toddlers must be 2 years old, and their storytimes will be held Tuesday mornings from 10:30 to 11:00 am. Children must be accompanied by one family adult. This session begins on September 29.

The Preschool sessions for children ages 3-5 years old will be held Thursdays from 10:30 to 11:15 am or Fridays at the same time. These storytimes begin October 1 and 2.

Children are invited to a Doll Craft Workshop on Tuesday, September 22 from 5:00 to 6:00 pm. It’s Back to School Time! Even dolls need school supplies, so join the staff as they make some teeny-tiny supplies and play American Girl Bingo. Children younger than 7 years old should be accompanied by an adult helper. Please register in the Children’s Department.

Experienced knitters welcome beginners of all ages every Thursday from 3:00 to 4:30 pm. Enjoy some new stitches and patterns, or learn from scratch. Supplies are available. Everyone is welcome.

Food donations are needed. Non-perishable food items are welcome for two projects. Canned goods and other non-perishables are being collected for Mattapoisett residents in need. Specific items are being collected for Nutrition on the Weekend backpacks for the Gomes School, in collaboration with the YMCA. To find out more about this program, join the Y staff and others at the kick-off event at the Mattapoisett Library on Wednesday, September 23 from 6:00 to 7:00 pm.

Presto Press issues are now online. Join the library staff and members of the Mattapoisett Historical Society on Sunday, September 27 at 2:00 pm at the library to see a demonstration of how to search issues of the historic Presto Press, published between 1954 and 1991. Duplicate copies will be available for purchase to benefit the Historical Museum.

The popular Purrington Lecture Series, sponsored by The Mattapoisett Library Trust, continues on Sunday, October 4 at 2:00 pm. Author and University of New Hampshire faculty member W. Jeffrey Bolster will present “The Mortal Sea: Fishing the Atlantic in the Age of Sail.” Everyone is invited to the lecture and the reception following. Books will be available for purchase and signing. Please make a reservation for the event by calling 508-758-4171 or email mfpl@sailsinc.org.

Marion Cultural Council LCC Grant

on September 18, 2015

The Marion Cultural Council is seeking funding proposals for community-oriented arts, humanities and science projects for the FY15 LCC cycle. Application forms for the grants are available online at www.mass-culture.org. Form templates are also available at the Elizabeth Taber Library, 8 Spring Street, Marion. Please visit the Massachusetts Cultural Council website for details regarding the submission of funding proposals. The deadline to submit grant applications is October 15 and seven copies must be made for the Council’s consideration.

Grants can support a variety of artistic projects and activities in and around Marion including exhibits, festivals, short-term artist residencies or performances in schools, workshops and lectures.

The Marion Cultural Council will also consider funding proposals from schools and youth groups to assist in subsidizing school-age children to attend cultural field trips.

The Marion Cultural Council is a part of a network of Local Cultural Councils (LCC) serving over 350 communities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The LCC program is the largest grassroots cultural funding network in the nation, supporting thousands of community-based projects in the arts, sciences and humanities every year. The state legislature provides an annual appropriation to the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, which then allocates funds to each community. This year, the Marion Cultural Council will distribute nearly $4,400 in grants.

For more information, please email Kristen Saint Don-Campbell at ksaintdon@gmail.com.

Town Hopes for Wastewater Grant

on September 18, 2015

The Town of Marion is hoping to secure a $200,000 grant from the Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program, and on September 15 during a special afternoon meeting, they signed the pre-proposal submittal with Buzzards Bay Coalition representative Rachel Jakuba present to assist in the application process.

The BBC contacted the Town of Marion and alerted them to the grant opportunity in light of the difficulties the town faces securing its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination Systems (NPDES) permit from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. The town faces possibly tens of millions of dollars in costs should it be forced to eliminate the usage of its three wastewater treatment lagoons and upgrade the wastewater treatment facility.

“We need to act expeditiously,” said Town Administrator Paul Dawson to selectmen. The pre-proposal was due that afternoon by 4:00 pm and, as far as Dawson was concerned, this grant was an opportunity to essentially receive funding for an endeavor the town would otherwise already have to undertake.

The town’s proposed project for the grant, titled “Aucoot Cove Partnership to Reduce Nitrogen from Septic Systems,” would expand municipal sewer services to approximately 151 homes in the Indian Cove neighborhood in Marion and the Harbor Beach neighborhood of Mattapoisett, which could potentially reduce nitrogen levels in Aucoot Cove and its sub-embayment, Hiller Cove, by 4,700 pounds of nitrogen per year.

This grant would fund the initial feasibility study of the sewer service expansion.

The town is partnering with the Town of Mattapoisett and the BBC, which will contribute $10,000 towards the feasibility study, and those residences in Harbor Beach could eventually be able to tie in to Marion’s expanded municipal sewer services.

Nitrogen pollution from cesspools and septic systems in these two neighborhoods discharges roughly 5,307 pounds of nitrogen per year, and is one of the significant reasons why Aucoot Cove is listed as a Category 5 water on the Final Massachusetts Year 2012 Integrated List of Waters (the “303d” list) as Nutrient Impaired. Expanding the sewer system would reduce the neighborhoods’ output of nitrogen by 90 percent.

As part of acceptance of the grant, the Town of Marion would have to contribute $50,000 to the project, with the project funding totaling $260,000 from the three sources. An article requesting the $50,000 funding will appear on the Fall Special Town Meeting warrant.

Dawson said the Town’s attempt to secure the grant to reduce nitrogen levels in Aucoot Cove might reflect positively on the DEP as it considers the fate of Marion’s NPDES permit.

“It could be helpful to us and our discussions with us and the DEP and the NPDES permit,” said Dawson. “It would look favorably on the town … but there’s no guarantees of that.”

Nonetheless, the town would indeed benefit in at least one way, said Dawson.

“This is an important step in regional cooperation,” said Dawson. “…Everything that could possibly be done to take nitrogen sources out … should be done.”

“We would be the lead town in this action … and [Mattapoisett] would tie in to us and pay the fees,” said Selectman Jonathan Henry. “I consider the offer to broker this deal … a very important step in that direction…. This is a very good example of inter-municipal cooperation.”

The next meeting of the Marion Board of Selectmen is scheduled for September

22 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Town House.

By Jean Perry

Be the Solution to Pollution

on September 18, 2015

On Sunday, September 13, town folk turned out to “be the Solution to Pollution” during a MOBY-themed beach cleanup event. Photo by Colin Veitch

Residents Honor Marion’s ‘Fairy Godmother’

on September 17, 2015

While Elizabeth Pitcher Taber rests in peace in an Acushnet cemetery, her beloved town of Marion is alive and thriving with culture and prosperity 127 years after her death, thanks to the generosity she bestowed upon a town that to this day remains a beneficiary of a legacy left by a remarkable woman.

There is a resurgence of appreciation and celebration of Taber in Marion these days with the 125^th birthday of the Marion Music Hall approaching. Members of the Music Hall Advisory Committee and Gala Committee have been busy preparing to celebrate Taber in a multitude of ways, with the committee’s eyes set on the weekend of October 2 through 4 planned as the “Elizabeth Taber Gala Weekend.”

On September 9, several members of the Marion community gathered at the Acushnet Cemetery beneath a breezy bright blue sky to pay tribute to the lady and lay a wreath of yellow flowers upon her grave. Taber, then known as Betsy Pitcher, born on August 22, 1791 and died October 5, 1888, grew up in Marion and taught at a school in town until she married Stephen Taber in 1822 and moved to Acushnet.

When she was widowed in 1862, also after having lost all three of her children before the age of five, Taber returned to Marion to help bring the town back into the light after the darker days after the Civil War. With a fortune she amassed through shrewd investments in the railroad and in mill stocks, she built the Taber Library and established the Natural History Museum that still resides on the second floor of the building. Included were an endowment of $15,000, a $4,000 life insurance policy, and $6,000 for the museum.

She then built Tabor Academy at the current Town House building, named after Mount Tabor in Palestine, and then Union Hall on South Street where the Fellowship Hall of Saint Gabriel’s now stands. Tabor Hall, Taber’s fourth building she gifted to the town, was where the current Sippican School is now located. She later built the Congregational Chapel before her final building was built, the one that is the focus of celebration next month, the soon-to-be 125 year old Marion Music Hall. As Marion Selectman Jonathan Henry put it, “Taber is to Marion as Henry Huttleston Rogers is to Fairhaven.”

Henry read aloud a proclamation at the gravesite of Taber, reminding attendees that since an early age, Taber believed “education must be the root of all endeavors.” Henry said he and his brothers were beneficiaries of Taber’s endowment to fund the education of Marion students at Tabor Academy.

“We still remember her … and we give thanks today because after many, many years we are enjoying the fruits of her labors,” said Reverend Sheila Rubdi of the Marion First Congregational Church during her opening prayer, reminding those present that we should all follow Taber’s example of her “spirit of giving.”

Before departing, guests sang together the Tabor Academy Alma Mater, singing,

“Hail, Dear Old Tabor, noble and strong/ To thee with loyal hearts we raise our song/ Swelling to heaven, loud our praises ring/ Hail, Dear Old Tabor, to thee we sing.”

In celebration of the Music Hall’s 125^th birthday, the Marion Music Hall Advisory Committee and Gala Committee will present a musical show titled “Our Fair Lady” on October 2-3 at 7:30 pm and October 4 at 2:00 pm at the Music Hall. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at the Marion Town House.

By Jean Perry

Marion Hydrant Flushing Program

on September 17, 2015

The Marion Water Division will begin its Fall Hydrant Flushing Program on Monday, September 21. We expect this program will take approximately eight weeks to complete. Residents in the immediate flushing area may experience discolored water and a drop in water pressure. Complete copies of our anticipated schedule are available at the Marion Department of Public Works Office located at 50 Benson Brook Road in Marion. If you have questions, please feel free to contact our office at 508-748-3540.

Rochester Democratic Committee

on September 17, 2015

Rochester Democrats are looking for interested Democrats to serve on the Town Democratic Committee. Registered Democrats must sign the nomination paper and name will be placed on the ballot for next town election. Please call Carol St. Don at 508-763-2795 to sign up for more information.

Changes in the New Year

on September 17, 2015

Since last year, Tabor Academy has undergone a multitude of administrative and infrastructural changes. In addition to building a new dorm (Matsumura), new carpets, paint, fans, furniture for the common room, and TVs were added to Spring Street and Knowlton dorms. The campus as a whole looks neater too, as new pathways and access roads were added. And, for sports fans eager to watch Tabor teams play with greater ease and comfort, bleachers have been added around the turf fields.

In accordance with an initiative to make Tabor more environmentally friendly, the whole school will be receiving Nalgene water bottles with the Tabor logo, and water bottle filling stations have been placed in many central locations around campus, including some dorms and the athletic center. By November, these stations will be in all dorms as well as the library, eradicating the need for plastic water bottles altogether. Already, the start of this initiative is showing success, and many students can be seen carrying the Nalgene bottles around campus.

Besides additions to Tabor’s infrastructure and policies, Tabor has also added a number of new faculty members this year. Merrie-Beth Cleary joined as a Human Development teacher, as well as a tutor in the Academic Resource Center. Tim Cleary has joined Tabor as a Math teacher, while Meredith Finch and Matt Sandefer are new teachers in the Modern and Classical Languages Department. Rebecca Parente and Emily Kaplan are both new History teachers. With all these new members of the Tabor community bringing new ideas and excitement to the school, the year is bound to be an interesting learning experience for all.

Emily Kaplan, new to the History Department, talks about her enthusiasm for the school year. “I am particularly attracted to Tabor’s 24/7 lifestyle,” said Kaplan. “I will have an opportunity to create stronger relationships with students both inside and outside of the classroom. Good education takes place when students feel fully comfortable with their teachers, so I’m really looking forward to getting to know my students well.”

As a new faculty member, Kaplan reflects on what she’s seen of the Tabor community so far, describing it as “supportive” above all else.

“I’ve received immense support from fellow faculty members in the past month,” Kaplan said, “and I seek to model the support that they also provide for students.” She, as well as most other faculty, is most excited to get back into the classroom and get right into doing what she loves – teaching high school students the subject that she is passionate about.

However, not all changes are new features or faces. For Melissa Bride, the difference is a new position and role in the Tabor community. As she heads into this school year, she takes on her role as the new dean of students. Unfortunately, she could not be reached for comment before press time. As the year is just beginning, she is busy settling students in, fielding innumerable questions, and meeting with other administration. Beloved by the students and widely known as one of the nicest people on campus, everyone is eager to see what Ms. Bride brings to the new position.

With all the changes in place, Tabor is looking ahead to a new and exciting year. With so many new students and faculty, as well as changes in roles and new initiatives, the 2015-2016 school year will be one like never before.

By Madeleine Gregory

Arbor Walk

on September 16, 2015

Elizabeth Taber Library and MOBY, My Own BackYard, an outdoor science program for students in grades 3-8, present an Arbor Walk in Marion village on Wednesday, September 30, from 3:00 – 4:00 pm. Please join Margie Baldwin, Marion Tree Warden, on a walking tour through Marion Village to explore the different trees that adorn our town.

– Learn to identify the differences between species of trees.

– Examine different types of trees that grow in this area.

– Explore the ways that our environment and insects affect trees.

This program is offered FREE of charge to the public!