The 2026 Marion Town Party was this past Saturday evening. Though it started at 4:00 pm, festivities continued on after sunset.

            The party was in the field by Silvershell Beach, moved up from August as it was in years past to increase accessibility and turnout. When the party began, residents slowly trickled in from the parking lot or hiked up from the beach, still in their bathing suits from a perfect beach day, to play cornhole, the various inflatable games, grapple up the portable rock-climbing wall, or just chow down after a day of summer fun.

            For food, there was the usual summer essentials: off the grill was some scallops, there was pizza, some New England clam chowder (fantastic), and much more. Food was prepared by Marion Fire Department and an army of volunteers – both town employees and residents.

            At the inflatable section, there was a bit of a crisis after a prospective all-star launched a soccer ball through the score hole which then led to a minor structural failure and partial collapse of the sports game, though luckily some adults were nearby to stand it up again, and ball launching continued shortly thereafter.

            Town Administrator Executive Assistant Donna Hemphill had been the party’s organizer, as she had done with town parties in years prior, and she was present throughout to ensure smooth operations along with other town representatives.

            The annual Marion Town Party has gone on for longer than anyone remembers, with no official start date to the first celebration in the records, nor in anyone’s personal memories. Though the Covid pandemic did leave us without a party before, the fest still continues each summer, bringing the town together for a big summer bash.

By Sam Bishop

Now we can breathe a sigh of relief. The Reflecting Pool fiasco down in Washington is out of the news. We can relax. This is not to say that we can’t be excited for the checkered flag to drop to start the Freedom 250 Grand Prix auto race through the streets of our nation’s capital, or the completion of the grand ballroom, or the president’s Triumphal Arch, or the new championship golf course along the Potomac River or the… well, you know.

            There is more pressing (or maybe I should say depressing) news to focus on right back here at home. A proposal for a new housing development in the heart of the village is already raising the hackles of long-time residents and environmentalists as well.

            A well-known local developer is proposing to tear down seven small rental houses on Mahoney’s Lane, a small enclave across the street from the Town Hall. The area is surrounded by marsh lands and was once… before time began… the town dump (It was later moved to where the Dunkin’ Donuts now resides and then to a patch of land on Industrial Drive and finally to the current transfer station near Rochester).

            According to published reports, each of the 750 square-foot rentals will be torn down and replaced by seven 2400 square-foot homes. Because they would be in a flood plain, they may rise up on stilts as high as twenty feet. If approved, they would become the first high-rise buildings in the village.

            Crescent Beach, Pico Beach, and Angelica Point, with their many houses that rest on stilts, are desirable neighborhoods. Bringing that model into the historic village, in this former design educator’s opinion, would be a new high-water mark of poor judgement.

            Our village is one of stately homes built by whaling captions, master shipwrights and other craftsmen, not to mention butchers, bakers and candlestick makers. (Well, maybe not candlestick makers.) The character of the village has remained true by subsequent owners who have maintained the look and feel of what keeps Mattapoisett special.

            Some years back there was another proposal by a developer that would have changed the character of the village. Back around 2000 a plan was presented to the town to construct a massive three-story apartment building that would have stretched from where the current funeral home is to land where that new fire station rests. It was serpentine structure with over one hundred apartments with a faux colonial style balconies facing route six (The architect said he “roamed the village” to find features he could incorporate into the design). The building was gigantic in scale and out of proportion to the nearby housing.

            Hearings were held with fancy, colored renderings and traffic studies and all the rest. Thankfully, common sense prevailed and the project was cancelled. Instead, the developer built what is now The Village at Mattapoisett, an attractive properly scaled community of condominiums that augment, not detract from the village “vibe”.

            Ironically, this proposal comes on the heels of a recent town meeting article that would have allowed small “cottage-like” communities on small lots. The article was defeated because the houses would not be required to be partially “affordable”. The destruction of the current rentals would lower the Town’s percentage of affordable housing, which is now 2.59%. The State’s requirement is 10%.

            On second thought, maybe this change to the village might be a good thing. If approved, it could open the doors to the erection of our own triumphal arc, or pave over Shipyard Park and call it the Shipyard Café, or cut down all the trees along Water Street and replace them with a grand promenade.

            Whoops. Best I go now.

            Mattapoisett resident Dick Morgado is an artist and happily retired writer. His newspaper columns appeared for many years in daily newspapers around Boston.

By Dick Morgado

            This week in Revolutionary War history, let’s check up on what was going on 250 years ago in the Thirteen Colonies. Last week, as Washington and the Council of War debated the proper reaction to the British landing on Staten Island, British ships push up the Hudson, catching defenders off guard and killing multiple, while they themselves suffered no casualties and made it past the weak defenses. Washington scrambles to shore up the city’s defenses, as Admiral Richard Howe requests a meeting with the general in an effort to draw the conflict to a close.

            On July 19, 1776, Washington pens a letter to the Secret Committee of the New York Convention, the six-man anti-British group formed by the state’s Provisional Congress a few days earlier to halt Loyalist activities and curb British interference. Washington notes his “unacquaintedness with the Hudson River,” and asks for guidance on stopping British ships from freely traveling on the river. The general recommends throwing obstructions into the river near Mount Washington, though he makes note of “so many difficulties and obstacles” that would stop such a measure.

            Member of the committee, William Duer, would write to two other members in the coming days, John Jay and Robert R. Livingston. The members made mention of efforts to survey the river, making note of its width and depth. Duer wrote, “G.W. expresses himself extremely anxious about the obstruction of that channel, and means are daily used for executing that purpose.” He then focused on supplies needed to fulfil said river obstructions, “It is impossible to procure vessels enough at New York, so that the measure must be delayed till such time as more vessels can be brought thro’ the Long Island sound from Connecticut however I am not without apprehensions that this resource will be cut off.”

            Also on July 19, Brigadier General Hugh Mercer wrote to Washington indicating a proposed night raid to attack British camps on Staten Island was called off as “The wind and tide being against them.”

            On July 20, Washington meets with the British Lieutenant Colonel James Paterson who arrived following recent correspondence between Washington and Admiral Howe. What remains is a “Memorandum of an Interview,” where it is stated the representative said “Howe much regretted the difficulties which had arisen respecting the address of the letters to Genl W.” In describing Washington’s side, it notes, “The General declined the letter and said that a letter directed to a person in a public character should have some description or indication of it otherwise it would appear a mere private letter.” The letters had addressed the general as, “George Washington, Esq., etc., etc.,” though Washington states, “That it was true the etc., etc., etc., implied every thing and they also implied any thing,” highlighting a failure of proper address, and Washington’s assertion that he is a public official and should be addressed as such.

            Washington also pushed back on Howe offering pardons, saying, “those who had committed no fault wanted no pardon: that we were only defending what we deemed our indisputable rights.”

            On July 24, President of the Continental Congress John Hancock writes to Major General Philip Schuyler with an official scolding of the general’s performance. Hancock states there has been a failure to maintain “harmony to the officers and troops of different states under your command.” Schuyler maintains his position in Fort Ticonderoga, though the troops there are still reeling from defeats in Canada.

This Week in Revolutionary War History

By Sam Bishop