If you are anything like my dad, you will say Father’s Day is a “Hallmark” holiday, designed to sell cards. Hallmark was founded as the Norfolk Post Card Company in 1907, and the first Father’s Day was celebrated in the United States in 1910, so unfortunately, I can’t rule him out totally just yet.

            According to popular belief, Father’s Day began as a way for Sonora Smart Dodd of Washington to honor her father. Given there was already a Mother’s Day and Sonora had been raised without one. Her father, William Jackson Smart, was a veteran and Sergeant of the Grand Army of the Republic during the Civil War. Her mother had passed in her teens, leaving Sonora’s single father to raise her to adulthood. Following his death, she told the Spokane Daily Chronicle “He was both father and mother to me and my brothers and sisters.” So, with that, we arrive at the day’s conception, complimenting Mother’s Day celebrated the month prior.

            To make a seemingly random tangent (it’ll become relevant), the English language is a member of the Indo-European language family, originating within the Scythian heartlands somewhere around modern-day Ukraine. Therefore, English is in some capacity related to most European, Iranian, Central Asian, and Indian languages. In English, it’s “father” while in Hindi, it’s “pita.” In Iranian Farsi it’s “pedar” and in Greek it’s “patéras.” Remarkably, for thousands of years, the name by which we call our “dad” has virtually remained unchanged. The word “dad” probably likewise comes from a “baby-talk” misconstruing of “papa” to “pa” to “da” to “dad.”

            Now, branching off of “father” but remaining on linguistics, the ancient Andeans that would eventually form the Incan Empire were the first to cultivate and domesticate the potato. They called it “papa” (no relation) according to Spanish conquistadors. However, due to miscommunications/mistranslations and likely a desire to not insult the Pope, who they called “el Papa,” they would then refer to it as “patata” which the English would transform into “potato.”

            In any regard, I thank my father for all he has done for me while also blaming him for instilling within me with a burning desire to learn random facts that only benefit me every other week in trivia. This Father’s Day, cherish the time spent with your father and likewise, your children should you have either. There is no harm in buying cards, though it may play into the stereotype stated above and reaffirm my own father’s opinions, which we just can’t have!

By Sam Bishop

Captain James Cook’s legendary ship, the HMS Endeavor, was confirmed to be located at the bottom of Newport Harbor in Rhode Island this past week. Underwater exploration of the harbor has been conducted since the early 90s, with the Australian National Maritime Museum having performed underwater archeological analysis for over 25 years. Though it was generally believed to be true by locals, the ship, or the little that’s left of it, was confirmed to sit at the bottom of the harbor in the institute’s final report.

            This corroborates the belief that the ship was purposefully scuttled by British forces in 1778~ to prevent the recapture of Newport and Aquidneck Island. The British captured Newport and the island as a whole in late-1776 and retained control over it through the Battle of Rhode Island, 1778 (where the boat was likely scuttled) until its defense was abandoned in 1779 to shift resources to other fronts. Remains of the HMS Cerberus, the HMS Lark, and other smaller transport vessels also lie in the harbor.

            Captain Cook and his HMS Endeavour are notable for their voyage to and discovery of Terra Australis by way of Cape Horn and the Drake Passage. Cook, crew, and the Endeavour mapped the New Zealand islands as well as sailing around Tasmania and up along the eastern Australian coast, passing near the Great Barrier Reef (where it struck the now named “Endeavour Reef,” narrowly avoided a shipwreck). The expedition lasted from August 1768 to July 1771. The ship is seen as the first stake in Britain’s claims to Australia and New Zealand, eventually leading to more expeditions and the eventually British colonization of Oceania.

            Currently, it is not known just how much of the ship remains intact, though it is likely not much. Metal ballast chunks are likely the easiest objects to uncover. Both Newport and Australia could lay claim to whatever is uncovered, but an amiable deal could likely be reached. Today, a replica of the HMS Endeavour is docked in Sydney Harbour. The final report by the Australian National Maritime Museum can be viewed online at www.sea.museum/en/maritime-archaeology/endeavour-report.

By Sam Bishop

With a crew of eager third graders, Don Cuddy along with other members of the Mattapoisett Land Trust education committee planted sunflowers at Dunseith Park located at the corner of North Street and Route 6 recently. This is a continuation of a major goal by the land trust: educating children about our natural environment.

            Soon, Cuddy was thinking that a sunflower seedling project might benefit not only the Mattapoisett Land Trust’s community engagement strategies but also help to educate local grade school kids by giving them first-hand, from the ground up, experience.

            Cuddy suggested to the MLT’s education committee that they might somehow use the sunflower to further science-based education programming. But it was the height of COVID-19, globally education efforts were stymied.

            At Old Hammontown School, where Center School children were temporarily relocated, an outdoor tent allowed some programing to move forward. Years later the program has expanded to include having the students plant the seeds themselves and when ready, planting the seedlings once nurtured in the classroom, outdoors at the highly visible site, Dunseith Park located at the corner of Route 6 and North Street. “They can see their own flower growing as they pass by in the family car,” Cuddy said, noting this would give them a deeper sense of ownership.

            One of the main points the program strives to impart is the codependency of plants and animals. A statement made by the MLT education committee notes, “Animals need food and light, water, minerals and favorable temperatures – and animals or other mechanisms to disperse the seeds.” Cuddy can attest to that last point. “The rabbits got the seedlings last year.” He said he grows extra plants for this scientific reality. The accompanying story walk around the park features pages from the book Plant Secrets by Emily Goodman.

            At first, Cuddy grew the seedlings for the children to plant. Now, working with the students and teachers, the plants are grown in their classroom. This year’s companion story meant to inspire the students to better understand where plants come from and how they area grown, is Plant Secrets by Emily Goodman. The book can be viewed in the story walk meandering around the park.

By Marilou Newell