Marion Toastmaster’s Club

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The Marion Toastmaster’s Club, a public speaking, communications and leadership organization meets the first and third Thursday of each month from noon to 1:00 pm at the Marion Recreation Center at 13 Atlantis Drive in Marion. The building is located near the Sippican Healthcare campus and Marconi Village.

Come and experience what happens at our meetings! We have a vocabulary word of the day, a joke of the day, two 5-7 minute prepared speeches, two minute extemporaneous speaking sessions and evaluations of what just happened. The meeting is one hour. Come and bring your brown bag lunch.

Get over your jitters and gain more confidence in your presentation skills. Bring a friend. For more information, call 508-292-6706 or visit our web site at www.Marion.ToastmastersClubs.org.

Nicolas Laliberte

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Nicolas Laliberte, 3 months old, died September 12, 2014 peacefully at home, surrounded by his family, from a lifelong battle with Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa which is a rare disorder that affects fewer than one in a million births.

He was the son of Andrea (Fontes) and Michael Laliberte.

Survivors include his parents; a sister, Giuliana Laliberte of Wareham; his paternal grandparents, Maria (Nunes) and Carlos Fontes of Taunton; his paternal grandparents, Elizabeth (Medeiros) and Edmond Laliberte of New Bedford; 2 uncles, James Fontes of Taunton and Christopher Laliberte of Dartmouth.

His Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Monday at 10 AM in St. Patrick’s Church in Wareham. Burial will follow in South Dartmouth Cemetery. Visiting hours are omitted. Arrangements are with the Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home for Funerals, 50 County Rd., Route 6, Mattapoisett. In lieu of flowers please consider donating to the Epidermolysis Bullosa Medical Research Foundation, 2757 Anchor Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90064 or online at www.ebkids.org or to DebRA 75 Broad St., Suite 300 New York, NY 10004 or online at www.debra.org. For on-line guestbook, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.

Joseph R. Andrews, Jr.

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Joseph R. Andrews, Jr., 91, of Dartmouth died Thursday September 11, 2014 at St. Luke’s Hospital after a brief illness. He was the husband of Edith (Correia) Andrews.

Born and raised in Mattapoisett, the son of the late Joseph R. and Beatrice (Faria-Monteiro) Andrews, he lived in Dartmouth for most of his life.

Mr. Andrews had been a master glazier for Andrews Brothers Glass Company and Guido’s Plate Glass. He later served as a police officer for the New Bedford Police Department for 13 years. He later owned and operated Sean’s Restaurant in Swansea and had been the executive chef at many of the leading restaurants and clubs in the area including the Kittansett Club, the Hawthorne Country Club, the Holiday Inn, P.J. Kelly’s, and the Chatham Arms. He had been an instructor at New Bedford Vocational High School in the after school culinary arts program for at-risk students. His final career was serving as the Director of Food Service Operations at UMass Dartmouth until his retirement.

During World War II, he served as a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the Battles of Luzon and New Guinea. He was a member of the Andrews-Dahill Post 1531, Veterans of Foreign Wars.

In his younger days, he played semi-professional baseball on teams in New Bedford and Cape Cod. He was featured in an article in the Fishing Gazette about catching scrod locally, flash freezing it and shipping it to other parts of the country arriving as fresh as when it was shipped.

He is survived by his wife Edith; his children, Clyde A. Andrews and his companion, Susan Cadieux, City Councillor Naomi R.A. Carney, and Mark D. Andrews and his fiancée Colleen Jackson, all of New Bedford, and Cheryl Andrews-Maltais, former Chairwoman of the Wampanoag Tribe of Aquinnah, and her husband Daniel of Edgartown; his son-in-law, Edward F. Carney; a close family friend, Roger Brightman; and many nieces and nephews.

He was the father of the late Jose R. Andrews III, and brother of the late Marjorie Payne, Roy Andrews, David Andrews, Mildred Barros, Pauline Collins, and Blanche Perry.

His Funeral will be held on Monday at 9 AM from the Saunders-Dwyer Home for Funerals, 495 Park St., New Bedford, followed by his Funeral Mass at St. Lawrence Church, New Bedford at 10 AM. A private family burial will be held at the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne. Visiting hours will be on Sunday from 3-7 PM. For directions and guestbook, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.

Marion COA

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Take the AARP Smart Driver Course hosted by the Marion COA at the Marion Police Station on Wednesday September 24. The classroom course will run from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm with a break for lunch. Please bring a bag lunch as lunch will not be provided. Space is limited, so register by calling 508-748-3570.

Call the Marion COA to reserve your spot on the van to the Westport Farmers Market on September 13 with pick up beginning at 8:30 am.

Lunch and Learn will begin again on October 1 at 12:00 noon. Bring your lunch and see if a reverse mortgage is right for you. All are invited, free and preregistration is not needed.

Rochester Historical Society

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The September 17 meeting of the Rochester Historical Society is at the East Rochester Church/Museum, 355 County Rd. at 7:00 pm.

Title of the program is “Sweetheart Cottage: Restoring a Hidden Gem on Snipatuit Pond.” Andrea King, current owner of this 1925-29 cottage, will present a PowerPoint program chronicling the restoration of this lovely cottage. All are welcome. Refreshments will follow the presentation.

Drama Club Starts Progress on Radio Show

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The Old Rochester Drama Club is trying something new this winter. Instead of doing just any old play, they’re doing a radio show! Don’t worry, you will still get to see the actors, but they will be standing onstage, in costume, saying their lines directly into a microphone.

This will give insight into what used to happen in a radio studio before televisions were invented, when people made their own sound effects in-house and read right from the scripts.

Radio shows were most popular in the 1920s, ‘30s, ‘40s, and ‘50s, before televisions dominated the home-entertainment industry. Programs ranged anywhere from comedy, to drama, to horror, and everything in between. As you will notice when you watch the play, even commercials were woven into the program.

One freshman said that the play is focused a lot more on sounds and voices than actions. The casts’ vocal performances will be much exaggerated, and the sound crew will actually be onstage making the sound effects.

He is right. Everyone on the sound crew, which usually only attends rehearsals once a week, will need to come after school on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights just like the onstage cast this year. This is definitely a major difference between this show and some of the previous shows that the club has performed in the past as its winter play, such as A Christmas Carol or Romeo and Juliet.

Auditions were held on the Monday of Labor Day and Tuesday, September 2, and the first read through of the script was Monday, September 8. At the rehearsal on Monday, Paul Sardinha, the seasoned director of the club, told the group that there was nothing to be afraid of.

“This isn’t the most confusing play we’ve done,” said Sardinha. He later revealed that it was Noises Off, a show they did in the ‘90s, that won the title of most confusing.

This year’s production of It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Show is set to take place the week before Thanksgiving.

The show stars Kyle Costa as the stage manager, Ian MacLellan as George Bailey, Holly Frink as Mary, and Will Lynch as Clarence, George’s guardian angel.

Since the story is such a well-known and much-loved classic, it puts a lot of pressure on the drama club to make it the best it can be.

The play is anticipated to be big, an important production and stepping-stone in the journey of the Old Rochester Drama Club.

“This play is going to be like nothing the drama club has ever done before,” said sophomore Mary Roussell. “We’re really breaking the fourth wall, and this play involves a lot of interaction with the audience. It’s going to be interesting to see how it all plays out.”

Proper execution is imperative with this show – the same, if not more, than other shows over the years.

“The problem with doing a well-known play is that if you mess up, everyone will notice,” said Sardinha on Monday night. He continued to say that he knows everyone will do wonderfully, and that he knows they won’t be messing up anyway.

By Emma Cadieux

Chairman Wants Faster Boarding of Buses

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Parents, some of you are taking too long getting your kids on the school bus, so said Rochester School Committee Chairman Sharon Hartley on September 4 during their first meeting of the new school year. The discussion was continued from last year when the topic of consolidating bus stops first came up.

New School Business Administrator Patrick Spencer told the committee that the district managed to reduce the number of school bus stops in Rochester from 320 to 257 without compromising safety. Spencer said consolidating six stops on Route 105 and 60-odd stops throughout the town has saved some time bussing students to and from school.

Hartley questioned the bus stop etiquette of some parents who she said she has personally witnessed in the past do not have their children ready and prepared when the bus pulls up, stops, and opens the door.

“It happens over and over,” said Hartley, describing how she has seen parents wait in their car with their child, who then does not exit the vehicle until the bus stops and opens the door, leaving the bus driver, the students on board, and traffic waiting too long. She added that the time some parents take to hug their child, say goodbye, and chitchat with the bus driver is also adding to the time that students have to be on the bus each day.

“I always thought of making a little video,” Hartley said of when she witnesses these occurrences.

There was a slight misunderstanding between Hartley and School Committee member Jennifer Kulak, who wondered if having the children rush across the street to hurry up onto the bus would jeopardize their safety. Hartley reassured Kulak that she was only referring to some stops on the same side of the road as the bus where some parents do not have their child ready by the road when the bus approaches.

Hartley wondered how the committee could get the word out to ask parents to cooperate by having their kids ready to board the bus in a timely manner, without taking up too much of everybody’s time.

“[Because] that’s abusive to everybody,” said Hartley.

Also during the meeting, committee members approved new Director of Student Services Michael Nelson’s funds request to cover the cost of an unforeseen out-of-district placement for one student with special needs. The “not to exceed $69,500” Special Education Stabilization Fund request will be placed as an article on the Special Fall Town Meeting Warrant for Town Meeting approval.

Spencer specified that the cost could be brought lower with changing circumstances, but the total could not exceed the requested $69,500.

In other matters, Rochester Memorial School Principal Derek Medeiros said he welcomed at total of 477 students on the first day of school, including 16 new students who either registered before the end of the school year or entered the district during the summer.

“Derek, it looks like grade two is creeping up in size,” said School Committee member Tina Rood. Medeiros replied that this has been the trend, but for the most part, the new students are evenly spread across the grades.

Medeiros said the new math curriculum, “Go Math,” has been delivered and unpacked with the assistance of some ORR Junior High School students, and teachers have already had their first professional development day pertaining to the new curriculum.

During the meeting, Superintendent Doug White introduced the committee to the new technology restructuring that will eliminate the need to keep the technology director position. Technology needs will now be spread out throughout all six schools in the district instead of each having their own consultant. Staff members throughout the ORR district will take on increased hours and technology roles that will be monitored and tracked more effectively by the central administrative office.

Spencer gave a brief update on the status of the closing of the fiscal year 2014 budget, prompting Hartley to comment, “That might be the briefest financial report in a long time.”

The next meeting of the Rochester School Committee is scheduled for October 2 at 6:30 pm at the Rochester Town Hall.

By Jean Perry

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Gateway Youth Hockey

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Squirts: The Gateway Squirts came out a little sluggish, but soon picked up the pace and took their first win of the season 8-0 against Braintree White. Thomas Leger, Matthew Quinlan, Juni Suarez, Trendyn Mederios, and Nate Ribeiro scored for the team with assists from Matthew Paling and Suarez. The whole team put in 100% effort and skated together, keeping the puck down the offensive end most of the game, and thus helping Ryker King earn his first shut-out for the season.

Pee Wees: The Gateway Pee Wee hockey season opener resulted in a 6-1 loss against Duxbury. Duxbury took an early three-goal lead in the first period until Jack Martins got Gateway on the board with their only goal of the game in the second period. Duxbury would go on to score three additional goals in the third. Gateway goalie, Ryker King, played a great game with some incredible stops, but the opposing team’s pressure was consistent throughout the entire game and proved too much for Gateway. This was the first game of the season for Gateway with no place to go but up, and this team will do just that. The loss was tough, but so were the players. Gateway skated hard to the last seconds of the game and showed a lot of promise for the 2014-2015 season. There will be some work to do in order to come together as a team, but the foundation is there and some good solid team building is all that will be needed to be successful.

Bantams: The Gateway Youth Hockey Bantam team opened the season with a decisive 8-0 victory over Plymouth. Steven Strachan and Zachary Pateakos shared the shutout in net. Jackson St. Don, Jake Demoranville, and Jameson Woodward each had two goals. Zack Lovendale added a goal and an assist. Jared Westgate also chipped in with a goal. Playmakers Josh Smolinsky and Robert Ramsay each had three assists.

Middle School 1: The Middle School 1 Jr. Vikings opened up their 2014-15 season with a victory over Walpole 6-2 Friday night. The scoring started early with a goal off the first face-off of the game. Quirino doCanto won the face off and headed up the ice with line mates Tyler Lovendale and James L’Heureux. doCanto then passed over to L’Heureux to score 10 seconds into the game. The Vikings played great defense, led by Coleby Paling and Seth Tomasik, to hold Walpole scoreless for the first period. Peter Pimental started the second period scoring on assists from Vyper LaTulippe and Zack Lovendale. Pimental returned the favor and fed Lovendale for his first of two goals on the night. Walpole got on the board in the second when a wide open player snuck one by goaltender Alex DeMarco. doCanto then got his name in the goal-scorer column by tapping in a rebound off a shot from Tyler Lovendale. Walpole then added another goal making it 4-2. The final two goals were scored by the Lovendale brothers, making the final score 6-2. It was a good first game to the season, with well-played defense and great goaltending. DeMarco made a number of saves in his first game for the Middle School 1 team.

Middle School Game 2: The MS 1 Jr. Vikings played their second game on Sunday, squeaking out a 2-2 tie against the North Devils. The game was a defensive battle from the beginning. North got on the board early in the first period beating Alex DeMarco. DeMarco then put up a brick wall, stopping almost every other shot after that. The Vikings defense, Paling, Tomasik, Kaleb Riggle, Wylde Latulippe, played strong as well, keeping the Devils away from DeMarco. The Jr. Vikings put up a number of shots on the North goalie, but he was definitely up to task, pushing away everything in the first two periods. The third period started off as another tough defensive period, until the Jr. Vikings finally broke through. The line of Tyler Lovendale, doCanto, and L’Heureux got the offense going early in the third period. On an offensive zone face off, an errant pass found the stick of Lovendale, who quickly made a no-look backhand pass to a cutting doCanto. doCanto made the goalie miss and drew the puck back in, before stuffing in a backhand as he was going down to the ice. On the ensuing possession, all three came down the ice and combined for the second goal with a pass from doCanto to L’Heureux to Lovendale who put it in the net. Unfortunately, the lead was short lived as North quickly tied it up. The game then became defensive again, with neither team being able to score again. It was a great game to watch and well played by both teams.

Mattapoisett Cultural Council Grants

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Mattapoisett Cultural Council seeks grant proposals for community-oriented arts, humanities, and science programs. These grants support a variety of artistic projects and activities in and around Mattapoisett – including exhibits, festivals, field trips, short-term artist residencies or performances in schools, workshops and lectures.

This year, Mattapoisett Cultural Council will distribute about $4,300 in grants. Previously funded projects include: Young People’s Concerts by New Bedford Symphony Orchestra, theatrical programs for children at Mattapoisett Free Public Library and for adults at Mattapoisett Council for Aging, and a performance for all ages by SouthCoast Children’s Chorus, among others.

Guidelines, application forms and more information about the Local Cultural Council Program are available online at http://www.mass-culture.org/Mattapoisett#. Questions may be addressed to MattapoisettLCC@gmail.com. Application forms are also available at Mattapoisett Free Public Library.

Grant applications must be postmarked no later than October 15 (10 copies).

Mattapoisett Cultural Council is part of a network of 329 Local Cultural Councils serving all 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth. 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.

Old Rochester Class of 1964

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A reminder that the Old Rochester Class of 1964’s 50th class reunion will be held at the Century House in Acushnet on September 27 at 6:00 pm. The Reunion Committee looks forward to greeting old friends and classmates.