Selectmen Keep Authority of Sprague’s Cove

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After taking the matter into consideration, the Marion Board of Selectmen voted September 2 to maintain authoritative control over Sprague’s Cove, choosing not to hand over management to the Marion Open Spaces Acquisition Commission or the Conservation Commission.

Chairman Jon Henry referred to an August 20 memorandum the board received from John and Susan Teal, who spoke during the August 18 selectmen’s meeting about the nuisance of phragmites relative to Sprague’s Cove.

The memo gives a rough outline of a management plan, calling for regular observation, the mowing of the site, and herbicide application. It also cites phragmites as a serious fire hazard.

For months, MOSAC and ConCom have been rivaling to gain control over the management and maintenance of the constructed wetlands designed for water purification.

            Henry acknowledged that the site needs a management plan – like any sewage treatment facility would require – but it needs to be “spelled out.”

Henry stated that the board should place an article on the next Town Meeting warrant for the funding, despite not having a plan for an engineer to analyze the site or a maintenance plan of some sort. He suggested a study committee of “stakeholders,” which would include the Department of Public Works.

“Nine out of ten times, it’s the DPW that’s gonna be doing the work,” agreed Selectman Jody Dickerson.

Henry’s bottom line was getting Town Meeting approval for the funding before making any concrete decisions on the future of the cove. He acknowledged openly that the board did not have the knowledge or understanding of the maintenance the cove requires, and Town Administrator Paul Dawson said he was unclear as to how to word an official document declaring the board’s decision, agreeing to word it that jurisdiction would remain “under the Town of Marion.”

“We gotta start somewhere,” said Henry.

Also during the meeting, the Friends of the Marion Council on Aging gave a brief summary of their recent plans for the future of a senior center in town.

The group has enlisted the assistance of the UMass Gerontology Institute to study the town’s senior citizen demographics.

The focus of their study will be caregivers of the elderly, residents over 45 years old, and local non-profit groups that might take an interest in creating a senior center that could also be used as a community center.

“We’re not here to ask for money,” said Priscilla Ditchfield. “The Friends is going to pay for this … but we do ask that you pay attention and come to these meetings as much as possible.”

In other matters, the board received an update from the Landfill Solar Array Evaluation Committee, which recommended accepting the RFP submitted by My Generation Energy, calling it “the number one contractor here.”

Bill Saltonstall from the committee said the company was giving the town the best deal, as well as satisfying the town’s goals for the project.

The town will lease the land to the My Generation Energy at $370,000, according to Dawson.

“That’s not a bad deal,” said Saltonstall.

Also during the meeting, after a rather long discussion, the board voted 2-1 against a water abatement for 49 Joanne Drive.

Dawson vehemently opposed granting the abatement totaling over $16,000 because the town had made 25 attempts since 2006 to enter the dwelling for an accurate meter reading, with no response from the property owner. The property owner for seven years had been paying an estimated water bill, which resulted in an undercharging of water and sewer usage.

Henry wanted to investigate further to see if a water leak was the culprit for the significant discrepancy in billing, but Selectmen Stephen Cushing and Dickerson both stated that it was the responsibility of the homeowners to respond to the town’s many attempts to rectify the issue over the past seven years – and they failed to do so.

By Jean Perry

MRsel090414

Friends Second-Saturday Book Sale

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The Friends of the Mattapoisett Library’s second-Saturday book sale resumes its regular schedule on September 13 from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm downstairs at the library, 7 Barstow Street. This month’s highlight is the addition of nearly 1,000 nearly-new non-fiction books on nearly every subject: history; military history; biography; and sports, particularly baseball. As always, there’s a great selection of fiction for all ages, CDs and DVDs, the Junior Friends’ bake sale, and the deposit-bottle and can collection. Stop by to browse and to support your library.

A Journey of a Lifetime

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Years ago, a Rochester man took a long-distance motorcycle trip from Rochester to Newfoundland, Canada, and realized he wanted more. He, like his father before him, developed a love of motorcycles and a lust for wandering far from home, and this was the year his dream of riding his Harley Davidson across country would be realized.

Davis Sullivan of Rochester works in the boating business and sits on the Rochester Zoning Board of Appeals. Back in July before a ZBA meeting, he announced that he was about to take some time off from work to ride his Harley Davidson across the country. A few of his associates seated at the table thought Sullivan must be a little crazy.

On September 2 during an interview, Sullivan described how he felt about his first significant solo trip to Newfoundland, and the inspiration behind his love of long-distance bike riding.

“After that trip to Newfoundland, I kind of got the bug,” said Sullivan. “So I decided to go cross-country.”

Sullivan’s late father got him into motorcycles when he was younger and made a cross-country trip of his own when he was in his 50s. It was always Sullivan’s dream to make a similar trip of his own, and now that he was 53 years old, Sullivan decided this was the year.

But first, he needed a motorcycle that would get him there: one capable of making the trip, and one that he could trust to get him there. In 2011, he purchased a 2008 Harley Davidson Road King, keeping in mind this 2014 trip from Rochester all the way to Vashon Island in Washington, where Sullivan’s sister now resides.

Sullivan organized the trip in such a way that he would spend his time off from work riding out west, and then have the motorcycle shipped back home so that Sullivan could take a flight back. He went online and coordinated the shipment with a shipping company near Seattle and planned his journey.

“A week later, I left in the pouring rain on Saturday, August 2,” said Sullivan. It was not an ideal start at all to the trip, especially hours later on his first day when he was stuck on the New York Thruway – 225 miles into his travels – needing to be towed because he lacked a sufficient repair kit. Of course, being a Saturday, all the bike shops were closed, which delayed his trip until Monday morning when a repair shop opened and finally got Sullivan back on his way.

“Believe it or not, I had two flat tires along the way,” said Sullivan. He said he also saw rain at least once a day for the first five days of his trip, which failed to dampen Sullivan’s spirits, especially once he started checking off the spectacular sites he would stop at along the way.

His first remarkable stop: Mount Rushmore, followed by the Crazy Horse Memorial in Custer County, South Dakota.

“I’d been to both coasts before, but I’d never seen the interior,” said Sullivan. He also rode South Dakota Highway 87 called the Needles Highway, a National Scenic Byway, steered his way through the Black Hills, explored the Wyoming Mountains from the seat of his Harley, and rode through Yellowstone and the Bear Tooth Mountains of Montana – all places to which Sullivan deemed his most memorable. “The landscape of the west was just incredible,” said Sullivan.

Weather was a big factor throughout the trip, said Sullivan. “It’s a drag,” he said about when he encountered a rainstorm along the way. “You got to suit up and get going.”

Sullivan’s second flat tire occurred while travelling from south to north through Yellowstone National Park. But he saw the buffalo, the grizzly bears, and the elk nonetheless – thanks to a can of Fix-a-Flat he had on hand that got him far enough to get his tire repaired.

Almost 3,600 miles later, he made it to his sister’s house on Vashon Island on August 12. On the plane ride home, Sullivan sat and wrote in his journal while the thoughts and memories were still fresh in his mind.

If you ask Sullivan why he took this trip in the first place, he will tell you his father inspired him to do it.

“Right after he retired, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease,” said Sullivan about his father who passed away ten years ago. “And basically, his retirement was done…” He continued, “So I decided to do it now while I could.”

It tested Sullivan. He said it was about getting out of your comfort zone.

“It just takes a lot of nerve to do it by yourself,” said Sullivan. “You kind of find out what you’re made of.”

By Jean Perry

BIKE TRIP 001

Gateway Youth Hockey

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Gateway Youth Hockey is looking for the next generation of hockey players now!

Learn to Skate/Play – Session 1 begins Friday, September 12 and runs eight weeks for $99. Location: Tabor Ice Rink in Marion from 6:00 – 7:00 pm. Dates: September 12, 19, 26; October 3, 10, 17, 24; and November 7. Registration will be taken on the first day, September 12. The equipment list is as follows: Required: Helmet with face cage; Recommended: hockey or winter gloves; snow pants or hockey pants; knee and elbow pads; hockey skates (no double blades).

For more information, email qdocanto@msn.com.

Identifying the Past: Pictures of Mattapoisett

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Please join the Mattapoisett Historical Society for a special exhibit featuring unidentified moments from Mattapoisett’s past on Saturday, September 6 and 13 from 1:00 to 4:00 pm at the museum at 5 Church Street. Enjoy a look into our Town’s history via our photography collection and see if you can help us fill in some information gaps about the people, events, and places in our Town. Suggested donation is $5. For more information, please contact the MHS at 508-758-2844 or mattapoisett.museum@verizon.net.

Bike Path Hearing

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A public hearing with Massachusetts Department of Transportation is scheduled for September 25 at 7:00 pm at Old Hammondtown School. All are welcome. For people who cannot attend, Friends of Mattapoisett Bike Path are holding an informational meeting and letter writing opportunity on Wednesday, September 10 at the Inn on Shipyard Park beginning at 7:00 pm.

ORR Cell Phone Policy Changes

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A new school year has started and is in full-speed motion in the Tri-Town area. This year is different than last, however, because Old Rochester Regional High School’s cell phone policy – one that was more lenient than most other schools in the area – has changed. During the 2013-2014 school year, students were delighted to read that there was no specific rule against having your cell phone out all day and using it when you like. However, the 2104-2015 school handbook states that “Students may not use electronic devices in halls after 7:30 a.m. or before 2:03 p.m.”

This means that students are being restricted in their cell-phone privileges, which has sparked some controversy among the students.

Sophomore Joshua Garcia says that the policy changes were prompted by “students who abused their privileges. Some students used their phones when they shouldn’t have, and they simply ended up pushing their luck too far.”

The new rules are easy enough to understand, written in bullet-point format on pages 55 and 56 of the Student Handbook. Essentially, students are not allowed to charge, listen to music, or use electronic devices in the building during school hours (unless in the cafeteria during lunch or if a teacher gives permission to do otherwise.)

The question, though, is will the students comply? A lot of students feel that the new rules deprive them of their freedom to access the news, to contact their parents in case of an emergency, or something along those lines. The real truth of the matter is that the students who were using their phones to do those things were not the students that prompted the changes. People were abusing their privilege, and in order to prevent it from getting worse, the school nipped it in the bud.

One way teachers can be assured that the students will adhere to the new rule is by enforcing it.

“No one will really be happy about it, but, I mean, there’s nothing you can do about it,” says sophomore Lauren Valente. “I think for right now the teachers are going to be on everyone about it, but after a while no one will really care about it,” she predicts, and she isn’t pulling this theory out of nowhere. A lot of new rules that the ORR school system has enacted over the years have had the same life cycle. They are enforced dutifully for the first few weeks of the school year, and then as the year goes on, and more and more infractions come up, the school gets more lenient about the rule, and eventually it fizzles out.

I asked several students whether they planned to abide by the rule, and 60 percent said that they plan to do so, which means that 40 percent said they are not planning to follow the rule.

“… I will be following the policy even though it will be hard. All summer I was on my phone, so I will probably have the urge to go on my phone, but once I remember the consequences I probably won’t have such a big urge to go on it anymore,” says an anonymous source.

Said consequences include the first offense, upon which you will be sent to Vice-Principal J. Parker’s office to give him your device, which you may retrieve at the end of the day. You will also have to serve a detention. The second offense results in the same consequences. The third offense is more severe, resulting in a parent being notified, the device not being allowed in school for the remainder of the year, and the third and every offense after that will be considered a Category Two offense – including, but not limited to, suspension from school for up to five days, loss of student privileges, restitution or restoration of damage, parent conferences, Saturday school detention, and notification to Superintendent of Schools Douglas R. White Jr. about the situation.

Will this be enough to deter all students from breaking the rule? The only way we will see whether this rule will stick or fade away is to wait it out.

By Emma Cadieux

CellPhone

Richard Alan Anderson

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Richard Alan Anderson, 79, of Marion, died Monday, September 1, 2014. He was born in Bridgeport, CT on September 9, 1934, son of the late Alexander Alan Anderson and Margaret (Huston) Anderson. Dick grew up in Wellesley Hills and attended Nobles and Greenough School in Dedham. In 1956, he graduated from Yale University with a degree in Economics. At both schools, he made life long friends.

Dick enlisted in the Army in 1957 and was stationed in Germany. Upon discharge in 1959, he was awarded the Good Conduct Medal. He spoke fondly of the friendships he formed with the men in his unit.

He worked for the La-Z-Boy chair company for 24 years, first as a salesman and then as a shoppe owner. He thrived on the challenges of owning his own business.

When he retired in 1989, he volunteered his time in the community working diligently for a number of organizations including the Community Resources Network, Sippican Historical Society and Sippican Tennis Club. He also began exploring his artistic talents. Along with many watercolor and acrylic paintings, his work includes paintings on two valances at the Sippican Café in Marion of historic local scenes.

He was an active member of St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church where he served in many capacities including the vestry, as treasurer and as an usher.

A natural athlete, Dick enjoyed tennis, golf, skiing and sailing. He was a member of the Kittansett Club, Sippican Tennis Club and Beverley Yacht Club.

Dick loved to travel. He and his wife, Dana, traveled extensively within the United States and Canada, and they took many trips to Europe. Favorite destinations were Paris, France and Santa Barbara, California.

He enjoyed spending time with his family, whether around the backyard pool or a holiday table and adored his grandchildren. He was known to state, “I have been incredibly fortunate in my life. I’ve enjoyed good health, a wonderful family, fine friends and countless enriching experiences.” He was a gentle man, loved by many and will be remembered for his integrity, responsibility, humility and delightful sense of humor.

Dick’s first wife, Nancy (Angell) Anderson, and the mother of his four children died in 1979. He married Dana (Derick) Anderson in 1982.

Along with his wife, Dana, he is survived by four children, Virginia Guinard of Auburn, CA, Margaret Elizabeth Anderson of Boston, MA, Timothy Alden Anderson of Shelburne, VT, Sarah Angell Anderson of Narberth, PA, eight grandchildren, and two brothers, Robert Huston Anderson and his wife Deborah of Marion, MA and Alexander Alan Anderson, Jr. of Monterey, CA.

His memorial service will be held on Saturday, September 27 at 2:00 PM at St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church. In lieu of flowers, remembrances in his memory may be made to the Sippican Historical Society, 139 Front Street, Marion, MA 02738 or Community Nurse and Hospice Care, P.O. Box 751, Fairhaven, MA 02719. For on-line guestbook, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.

Machacam Club

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The Machacam Club will hold its October meeting on October 1 at the Legion Hall, 3 Depot Street. Social time is 5:30 pm, with dinner at 6:00pm.

Our special guest will be Seth Mendell, who will be departing the next day to return to Florida for the winter. As this year is the 100th anniversary of our Cape Cod Canal, Seth will talk about the early attempts to build a canal across the isthmus and the actual building in the early 1900s. Today’s canal was built by the Army Corps of Engineers in the 1930s and is the widest sea-level canal in the world. With Seth’s skills, the resulting presentation will certainly be most interesting.

Callers and members are asked to bear in mind the importance of call list accuracy, especially in view of the potential food cost increases. Caller lists should be done and reported no later than 9:00 am on September 29 by email to gpfnr@aol.com or by phone to Mike at 508-758-9311. Members with requests or changes can contact either no later than 9:00 am on September 30. As this is the first meeting, if any caller has a conflict with their list, please let Mike know.

September Programs at Plumb Library

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For their September book, “Just the Facts”, the nonfiction book discussion group, will be reading Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss. In the spring of 1999, the heads of the world’s largest processed-food companies – from Coca-Cola to Nabisco – gathered at Pillsbury headquarters for a secret meeting. On the agenda: the emerging epidemic of obesity and what to do about it. Increasingly, the salt, sugar, and fat-laden foods these companies produced were being linked to obesity, and a day of reckoning was at hand. In Salt, Sugar, Fat, Moss shows how we got here. Featuring examples from some of the most recognizable and profitable companies and brands of the last half century, Moss’ explosive, empowering narrative is grounded in meticulous research. We will discuss this book on Thursday, September 18 at 6:30 pm. Copies are available at the desk or can be downloaded from Overdrive.

Café Parlez’ selection for September is The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor. “Wonderland” is real. Alyss Heart is the heir to the throne until her murderous Aunt Redd steals the crown and kills Alyss’ parents. To escape Redd, Alyss and her bodyguard Hatter Madigan escape to our world through the Pool of Tears, but are separated on the way. Alone and lost in Victorian England, Alyss is befriended by an aspiring author to whom she tells her story. Hatter must find Alyss and return her to Wonderland to defeat Redd and take her rightful place as the Queen of Hearts. We will discuss this book on Thursday, September 25 at 6:30 pm. Books are available at the desk or bring your own copy.

Plumb Library Knitters meets every Monday at 6:30 pm. Knitting lessons will be given on Mondays at 6:00 pm starting September 15. Call the library at 508-763-8600 to reserve a spot in the 6:00 pm beginning knitter class.

New computer users can receive training and assistance with Mr. Charles Tate on Wednesdays at 10:00 am starting September 17. Please contact the library for more information or to let us know what you need to work on. Stop by the library, call us at 508-763-8600, or email info@plumblibrary.com.