Keel Awards

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The Wanderer is once again pleased to announce that we are now soliciting nominations for our 20th annual “Wanderer Keel Awards.” The yearly community service honor – which is presented to one resident from each of the three central towns in our circulation area – will be announced in our July 24 edition, and each winner will be the subject of a short feature highlighting their contributions to the local community. But The Wanderer needs your help in selecting these “unsung heroes.”

The requirements are simple. Nominees must be legal residents, for at least five years, of Mattapoisett, Marion or Rochester and must have contributed in some way to the overall benefit of the community – either directly to town residents, or indirectly through efforts in promoting town activities, or working to keep the wheels of local government well oiled. The only restriction is that these persons cannot benefit from their efforts in any other way – either financially or politically (hence, sitting elected officials are not eligible).

In doing this, we hope to applaud those who are rarely recognized for their countless hours of service and focus on the many people “behind the scenes” who remain otherwise anonymous but provide crucial support to many town functions. Like the keel of a ship, which keeps the vessel from capsizing, the recipients of the Annual Wanderer Keel Award will be recognized for their stalwart efforts in keeping the community on an “even keel.”

Past recipients of this honor include:

• MATTAPOISETT – Maurice “Mudgie” Tavares (1994); Priscilla Alden Hathaway (1995); Norma Holt (1996); Gale Hudson (1997); Kenneth Stickney (1998); Clara Morgan (1999); Betty and Bert Theriault (2000); John N. “Jack” DeCosta (2001); Jo Pannell (2002); Stan Ellis (2003); Evelyn Pursley (2004); Luice Moncevitch (2005); Seth Mendell (2006); Bradford A. Hathaway (2007); Kim Field (2008), David Spencer Jenny (2009), Stephen L. Kelleher (2010), Bento Martin (2011), Howard C. Tinkham (2012), Ellen Flynn (2013).

• MARION – Claire Russell (1994); Ralph and Phyllis Washburn (1995); Annie Giberti (1996); Jay Crowley (1997); Tyler Blethen (1998); Olive E. Harris (1999, posthumously); Kathleen P. “Kay” Reis (2000); Loretta B. “Lori” Schaefer (2001); Ann and Warren Washburn (2002); Andrew Santos Sr. (2003); Eunice Manduca (2004); Annie Giberti (2005); A. Lee Hayes (2006); Horace “Hod” Kenney (2007); Margie Baldwin (2008), Jack Beck (2009), Dr. John Russell (2010), Jane McCarthy (2011), Nancy Braitmeyer (2012), Rodney Hunt (2013).

• ROCHESTER – Joseph McCarthy (1994); Jean Fennell (1995); Katherine Hartley Church (1996); Chris Byron (1997); Albert Alderson (1998); Arthur and Aline Lionberger (1999); Kenneth E. Daggett (2000); Georgia D. Chamberlain (2001); Mary P. Wynne (2002); Evelyn F. Benner (2003); Mike Meunier Sr. (2004); Arthur F. Benner (2005); Pamela J. Robinson (2006); Anna E. White (2007); John E. Lafreniere (2008), Cathy Mendoza (2009), Kate Tarleton (2010), John Cobb (2011), Thomas Goyoski Jr. (2012), Kevin Woodward (2013).

Please send the name, address and telephone number of recommended nominees, along with a brief description of their key contributions to the community and why you feel they are deserving of this honor to: Keel Award, The Wanderer, P.O. Box 102, Mattapoisett, MA 02739, or e-mail your submissions to news@wanderer.com.

The deadline for nominations is Thursday, July 17 at 3:00 pm. Selected recipients will be announced in the July 24 edition.

The Tri-Town is Celebrating Science!

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Kick off your summer with Free Fun Family events and bring out the Scientist, Engineer, Mathematician or Techie in you!! All activities are hands-on and geared to children ages 3-9 and their grown-ups. Families will work together to conduct simple STEM hands-on activities.

Dates and Locations:

Thursday, June 26, 10:00 – 11:00 am – Sippican School Community Room

Thursday, June 26, 6:30 – 7:30 pm – Plumb Library – Rochester

Friday, June 27, 10:00 – 11:00 am – Sippican School Community Room

Friday, June 27, 11:00 – 12:00 pm – Plumb Library – Rochester

Saturday, June 28, 11:00 – 12:00 pm – Plumb Library – Rochester

Saturday, June 28, 11:00 – 12:00 pm – Mattapoisett Free Library

This program is sponsored by the CFCE Program of the ORR School District through funding from the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care’s Coordinated Family and Community Engagement Grant.

Summer in the Sun

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The Mattapoisett Woman’s Club invites you to share some time with us during three upcoming fun and fundraising events. Saturday, June 28, is our first event, the “Down by the Bay” garden tour which takes place from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, rain or shine.

Stop by one of the following merchants this week to purchase advance tickets for $15: Periwinkles in Fairhaven; The Bookstall in Marion; Isabelle’s, Pen & Pendulum, Town Wharf General Store, and Ying Dynasty Restaurant in Mattapoisett. Tour day tickets will be sold at the check-in booth at the Ying Dynasty parking lot on June 28 for $18 beginning at 9:30 am.

The Woman’s Club is also very pleased to announce the raffle of a fabulous stone birdbath generously donated by Gotta Have It!, 324 Huttleston Avenue, Fairhaven. The raffle will take place at The Taste of the Town on July 15. Tickets are available at Gotta Have It!, at the garden tour check-in booth on June 28, and at Taste of the Town.

Our second event, The Taste of the Town, is on July 15 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm at Shipyard Park. Participating restaurants include: The Inn on Shipyard Park, Nick’s Homemade Pizza, Turk’s Seafood, Shipyard Galley, Ying Dynasty, The Slip, Uncle Jon’s Coffee, On the Go, How on Earth, Panino’s, Oxford Creamery, Mattapoisett Chowder House and Tavern, Gail’s Goodies and More, and Tastebuds Bistro & Catering.

Wrap up the tasty week with our third event, a delicious homemade pie sale, which takes place on Saturday, July 19 during Harbor Days at Shipyard Park.

We hope to see you around town!

Thank You

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To the Editor:

            Thank you to all that have donated to Bill and his daughters’ Pan-Mass Challenge ride this year so far.

Last year, Bill rode in memory of his mom. This year, his daughters Amanda and Lindsay, will make their first 192-mile ride in memory and support of all those friends and family we have lost or have been recently diagnosed this year.

If you would like to support Bill and his girls on this journey, you may make donations on the Pan-Mass Challenge site under Team CLOVER (Courage Lives On Valiantly in Every Rider) or you can mail a check made out to PMC to Bill Tilden, 481 Mill St. Marion, MA 02738.

No donations are too small and all are greatly appreciated. Each team member has pledged to raise $4300.

We appreciate your help in reaching their goals and joining their fight to find a cure for cancer. 100% of all donations go to Dana-Farber for cancer research.

Thank you,

The Tilden family

 

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.

Mattapoisett Man Shares Poignant Life Story

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It was not Derek DeCosta’s intent to write a book telling the story of his traumatic childhood when he sat down to write a foreword to a fitness book he planned to market in Korea. But when he began writing about his Korean roots, the dam that for years had held back a river of repressed memories and emotions burst, and The Moonlight King floated up from the tormented waters that flowed from the reconciliation with his painful past.

Born Yoon Sang Kyun, DeCosta lived a privileged life as the only son to his father and loving mother – until one day when he was five years old and his life changed forever. Innocence was soon lost, and the nightmare of the next eight years of his life began.

DeCosta describes in vivid, agonizing detail how his parents would divorce, and DeCosta and his older sister would be hastily sent late one night to the United States and adopted by a single mother in Hyannis, Massachusetts. The children are imprisoned and enslaved by the woman and her son, enduring years of every possible form of torture and abuse.

The book documents the harrowing process of DeCosta’s journey from the darkness of his childhood into the triumphant light of becoming a free man and a successful adult.

On the evening of June 19, DeCosta shared his message of transcendence through forgiveness and love with dozens of people during an author’s talk at the Elizabeth Taber Library in Marion.

“I didn’t write the book to write a book,” said DeCosta, calling it a form of release – a “cathartic purge” – a letting go of demons.

When DeCosta started the book, his words began to assemble shocking sentences, which developed into painful paragraphs, progressing on to bone-chilling chapters. DeCosta said he did not stop to read his own story until a few days after he finished it.

“That was difficult … to relive childhood,” said DeCosta, “in living color – with no buffer.”

Throughout his tumultuous life, DeCosta has been both a sprinter and a runner of proverbial marathons, and the readers will find themselves running alongside him, cheering him on from the sidelines as he tries to reach the ever-retreating finish line. There is relief when, finally, he does.

When DeCosta talks, people listen. There is an invisible light that emanates from his words of encouragement and inspiration as he speaks, and his message resonates on some level with the experiences of all people.

DeCosta’s struggle adds pathos and ethos to the insight, wisdom, and advice that he weaves into every page. Forgiveness and love are the keys that finally unshackle DeCosta as he realizes his own self worth and asserts his right to an important and meaningful life.

His writing style is poetic but easy to read, using powerful language and descriptive imagery to describe the ugliest of experiences and feelings. If DeCosta’s experiences are the thorns, this book is the rose.

DeCosta resides in Mattapoisett and he is a fitness trainer, life coach, and mentor. Seated inside the Taber Library that Thursday evening were some of the people whose lives have been touched by DeCosta. He has his own public access show on ORCTV called Become Your Own Gym, and he strives to assist people in discovering themselves both physically and spiritually in his own wellness program.

The book is not yet published, but DeCosta has donated several copies to the Elizabeth Taber Library and the Mattapoisett Free Library, and he plans to distribute the book to the surrounding town libraries as well. Visit www.themoonlightking.com for more information about DeCosta and the book.

By Jean Perry

 

Brandt Point Village to Seek Legal Action

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At the end of a very long evening of applications and hearings, Curtis Mello, a principal in the sub-division named Brandt Point Village, came before the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission to discuss the replication area required in their permit. After some discussion regarding the best season in which to begin the construction work, Mello received approval to have that replication work completed by the end of September. During the discussion, he also shared that Brandt Island Realty Trust plans on seeking legal action on the decision from the Planning Board to decline an amendment to their permit that would increase the number of bedrooms in the homes from two to three. Mello said that they need the more marketable three-bedroom units in order to make the sub-division attractive to buyers. He said it is their position that the number of bedrooms cannot be regulated by the Planning Board but by the DEP and the capacity of the septic system.

Another matter before the commission, one which garnered significant time, was a request for an amended order of conditions filed by Daniel and Daneen Eilertsen, 20 Water Street. They were seeking to extend an upper level plateau an additional 29 feet on the harbor side. They have removed from their plans a pool and patio area on the seaward side of the property and have begun work on a long-neglected seawall and pier. ConCom members viewed the request as acceptable, given that wave action and associated energy from storms would be lessened with this type of earthen structure. However, Raymond Cebula, an interested party, wasn’t convinced. Lengthy discussion ensued, with various commission members attempting to assuage Cebula’s concerns that such a structure would actually increase the possibility of ocean surge reaching across Water Street with oceanographic knowledge of wave action. Cebula remained unconvinced. He also questioned why a project he was involved with on Mattapoisett Neck was not allowed to bring in fill, yet this project was. The commission members speculated that maybe there were other considerations that made his project less viable for the introduction of fill. After answering all his questions, ConCom moved to amend the order of conditions to allow the extension after the completion of the seawall repairs.

Blue Wave LLC’s Aidan Foley and engineer Rick Charon were back before ConCom to discuss their continued work with peer review engineer Gary James, storm water management plan updates, and traffic noise studies on their proposed solar farm on Crystal Spring Road. Foley said that by the next meeting on July 14, they hope to present the full traffic noise study. Charon said that he thought by that day they would also have received a final report from James. With those pieces of information in place, the applicant will return in the hope of receiving a negative finding from the commission so the project can move forward to the next stage – going before the ZBA on July 17.

In other business, Brian Grady of GAF Engineering discussed the ongoing review of storm water management problems at the Appaloosa Lane sub-division. Grady didn’t have any conclusions to share at the present time. He said that by the July 14 meeting, he would have better evidence to determine the water table issues and plans for improving storm water drainage. Once again, abutters complained bitterly about the longstanding and ongoing problems with water running onto their property from this sub-division. Chairman Peter Newton said that they needed to give the engineer and developer an opportunity to work through the problems in order to come up with a plan.

Also on the agenda: Robert Ball received permission to trim trees in wetland areas at 7 Oakland Street, as allowed by the homeowner; Richard Machnowski, 43 Shore Drive received a negative 2 finding for the installation of a new septic system; Susan and Kenneth Rocha, 4 Kyla Way, received a negative 3 finding for NSTAR to install a gas line to their home; and Raymond Cebula, 3 Shore View Avenue, received a negative 3 finding for the installation of a new fence.

The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission is scheduled for July 14 at 6:30 pm in the town hall conference room.

By Marilou Newell

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Greenwood “Sonny” Hartley, Jr.

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Greenwood “Sonny” Hartley, Jr., 87, a lifelong resident of Rochester died June 22, 2014 at Sippican Healthcare Center after a brief illness.

Sonny leaves a legacy of love and kindness. He shared 63 years of marriage with Shirley M. (Rhodes) Hartley. Together they raised three children and anchored a family of over 30 individuals.

He was the son of the late Greenwood and Katherine T. (Gifford) Hartley. He was a member of the Rochester Congregational Church.

He held many different types of jobs throughout his life, his favorite and most enjoyed was the 25 years as a salesman at Hiller Dodge in Marion.

He served his country during World War II as a member of the U.S. Navy. He served his Town in many elected and appointed positions, including two terms as a member of the Board of Selectmen.

He was a member and Past Master of the Pythagorean Lodge A.F. & A.M. and a past member of the Aleppo Shriners.

However, it is his natural loving, supporting and good nature that will be most fondly remembered. Whether sitting at a local ice rink or little league park and cheering on his grandchildren or great grandchildren, or sitting at home surrounded by them cheering on the Bruins, Red Sox or Patriots, he was forever the sports fan. During his retirement he spent many hours attending school plays, graduations and award ceremonies. Just weeks ago he attended his youngest granddaughter’s college graduation and his great grandsons’ baseball games.

Survivors include his wife; 3 children, Greenwood “Woody” Hartley, III and his wife Sharon, Marsha Ann Hartley and Walter Rhodes Hartley and his wife Sheldon L., all of Rochester; a brother, Henry A. Hartley and his wife Bonnie of Rochester; 7 grandchildren, Scott Greenwood Hartley, Amy Hartley-Matteson, Sarah Jane Cecil, Morgan Lee Cecil, Walter R. Hartley, Jr., Jon A. Hartley and Katherine A. Hartley; 16 great-grandchildren; 2 nephews, Raymond Hartley and Andrew Hartley and a niece, Heather Hartley-O’Shaughnessy. He is the brother of the late Katherine T. (Hartley) Church and Robert T. Hartley.

His Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, July 5th at 11 AM at the Rochester First Congregational Church. Arrangements are with the Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home for Funerals, 50 County Rd., Route 6, Mattapoisett. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in Sonny’s name to your favorite charity. For on-line guestbook, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.

Mattapoisett Library Facebook Photo Show

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With summer about to begin, both according to the calendar and the ending of the school year, the library staff invites residents and friends to send their summer photos to be considered for the cover photo on the library’s Facebook page.

Each week the library will choose a picture for the cover photo on Facebook, giving credit to the photographer. The photo might include family outings, Mattapoisett scenes, and summer fun. Photos will also be printed and shared on a board in the library for everyone to enjoy during a visit to the library.

“We hope to share some great photos of the summer season in our community”, said Susan Pizzolato, Library Director. “Summer is a wonderful time here in Mattapoisett, and the library would like to share photos of special moments and scenes taken by residents and friends. This is a great chance to show everyone your favorite summer photo!”

All are invited to submit photos via e-mail at mfpl@sailsinc.org, and photos will be posted through Labor Day. And, don’t forget to follow the Mattapoisett Free Public Library on Facebook to learn about summer programs and services for all ages.

Down by the Bay

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This is the last week you have the opportunity to buy garden tour and lunch tickets for the Mattapoisett Woman’s Club 2014 garden tour, “Down by the Bay.” The tour takes place on Saturday, June 28 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, rain or shine.

Luncheon reservations will close on Sunday, June 22. Stop by one of the following merchants this week to purchase tickets that include lunch at the Post Restaurant at the Bay Club during your visit to our nine featured gardens: Periwinkles in Fairhaven; The Bookstall in Marion; Isabelles, Pen & Pendulum, Town Wharf General Store, and Ying Dynasty Restaurant in Mattapoisett. Advance tickets are $15 for the tour only, and $40 for the tour and luncheon.

Tour day tickets will be sold at the Ying Dynasty parking lot on June 28 for $18 beginning at 9:30 am.

Informative Oyster Farming Experience

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The Sippican Lands Trust and Tabor Academy have partnered on the waterfront and will offer an informative oyster farming experience for the whole family. The event, entitled “The Inner Workings of the Tabor Oyster Farm,” will be held on Thursday, June 26 from 6:30 – 7:30 pm, rain or shine. Please gather in front of Tabor’s Fireman Performing Arts Center located off of Front Street in Marion. There you will be greeted by Captain Dave Bill from Tabor, who will lead you through the experience.

The Tabor Academy Oyster Farm was started in June 2013 to support and complement the Town of Marion propagation efforts. Tabor has utilized the farm for many interdisciplinary programs including Marine Science, the Arts, Admissions, Freshman curriculum, Alumni, Grandparents, Community Service. Captain Dave Bill will discuss the conception of the farm, the physical set up of the farm, and the benefits and outcomes that have evolved. You will see the oysters up front and personal, and you will learn about the oysters themselves!

Please do not hesitate to contact SLT Executive Director Robin Shields at 508-748-3080 or online at robinshields@sippicanlandstrust.org if you have any questions. We hope to see you there!