The Tri-Town Bike Club, organized by Marion Recreation and Mattapoisett Recreation, will be having three rides next week. The first is at 10:00 am on Sunday, November 10. The second is at 12:30 pm on Sunday, November 10, and the third is at 12:30 pm on Thursday, November 14. Each ride begins at Ned’s Point in Mattapoisett. For more information or to sign up to be on the email list, please contact Marion Recreation at 774-217-8355 or info@marionrecreation.com
To the Editor:
I’ve lived in Rochester for about 15 years and I love it here. I’m in favor of adopting the Community Preservation Act (CPA) for lots of reasons. The one that gets my attention most is that our town has missed out on state matching funds from the CPA. Acushnet adopted the CPA in 2003 and has received over $600,000 in state funds; Mattapoisett adopted the CPA in 2010 and has already received over $230,000. 155 Massachusetts cities and towns benefit from these state funds while Rochester has missed out completely.
We all know that there is no such thing as a free lunch. So what do towns do to get the state funds? The CPA allows towns to apply a surcharge on our real estate tax bills to create a special CPA fund. The cost to the average Rochester homeowner would be about $47 per year. The state match is based on real estate fees collected by the state. For 2013, the state match is expected to be over 27%. So if Rochester raised $200,000, we would get over $50,000!
Massachusetts towns have used CPA funds to purchase land for open space and recreation, for creating or improving playgrounds and ball fields, and for preserving and restoring historic buildings. Rochester has projects in all of those areas that need funding.
I am a retired accountant, and I think the Community Preservation Act is a good deal for Rochester. Where else can we get that kind of return on an investment while making Rochester an even better place to live?
I encourage Rochester residents to attend Town Meeting on November 25 to help us bring the CPA and those state matching funds to our town.
Rosemary Smith
Chairperson, Rochester Conservation Commission
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.
To the Editor:
The Community Preservation Act is a state-run program in which the state gives money to towns that choose to set aside money to preserve their communities. The state CPA fund comes from real estate transactions. The town collects a surcharge on property taxes (the average home owner will pay less than $50 per year, and low income and the elderly can get a surcharge exemption), and each year receives a percentage of what it collects from the state fund. This year’s percentage is projected to be 27%. I wish my savings were collecting 27% interest.
The “Vote No on CPA” signs are starting to show up on Rochester lawns as the Fall Town Meeting approaches. The naysayers oppose new taxes, but this tax is unique in that town residents get to determine how the money is spent. A CPA committee, made up of town residents appointed by existing town boards, will present proposed projects to Town Meeting for our vote. Preservation projects may be historical, open space and recreation, or affordable housing. The CPA fund is allowed to accumulate until needed for approved projects and can never be taken over by the general fund.
Much of the opposition comes from the bigger land owners who actually stand to benefit more from preserving the community we all love. While they stand to pay more based on their greater land holdings, they will gain more as land values increase from maintaining our rural character.
A public forum will be held at the Rochester Senior Center on November 13 at 7:00 pm, where you can get the facts and judge CPA for yourself.
Most of our neighboring towns have already received hundreds of thousands of dollars to preserve their communities. Why not Rochester?
David Smith
Rochester
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.
The Marion Art Center’s production of Chekhov’s Seagull opened last weekend, and will continue on November 8 and 9 at 8:00 pm. For more information, visit www.marionartcenter.org. Photos by Felix Perez.
Donald J. Bourque, 71, of Mattapoisett died November 5, 2013 at Beth Israel Hospital after a brief illness.
He was the longtime friend of the late Philip J. Murray, Jr.
Born in New Bedford, the son of the late Hector J. and Anna E. (Lemire) Bourque, he lived in Mattapoisett most of his life.
Mr. Bourque was formerly employed by Acushnet Company for many years until his retirement.
He served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War.
Mr. Bourque was a member of the Fin Fur and Feather Club in Mattapoisett. He enjoyed spending time at Ned’s Point.
Survivors include 4 brothers, Paul Bourque, Raymond Bourque and Hector Bourque, Jr., all of New Bedford and Ronald Bourque of Seekonk; 3 sisters, Pauline Longley of Palm Harbor, FL, Vivian Kirkwood of New Bedford and Lucille Viera of Tucson, AZ; his good friend J.R. Flanagan; and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was the brother of the late Janice Leger and Robert Bourque.
His Funeral Service will be held on Saturday, November 9th at 9 AM in the Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home for Funerals, 50 County Rd., Route 6, Mattapoisett. Burial will follow in Sacred Heart Cemetery. Visiting hours are omitted.
Accolades went around the table at the Wednesday evening meeting of the Marion School Committee at the Marion Town House. According to state standards, Sippican Elementary School was at a level 2 last year, but due to improved MCAS scores and other various improvements, it moved up to Level 1, a Massachusetts educational rating, which was celebrated by the school and School Committee last evening.
In other business, volunteers from Marion, young and old are needed to come and give input to the school on four issues involving the future of education in the community.
The board is looking for anyone in the community who has an interest in giving input on any of four areas being researched. Areas include: Academic Rigor, Twenty-First Century Technology, Organizational Goals, and Relationships Between the Town of Marion and the School District. Anyone interested in joining in can call Diana Russo at (508) 758-2772, ext. 195
In Superintendent Doug White’s report, he highlighted the success of the Abigail Adams Scholarship and said that almost one-third of the graduating class had received a tuition waiver for up to eight quarters of undergraduate education at a Massachusetts state college or university.
These ORR students have scores of advanced and proficient on grade 10 MCAS tests in English language arts and mathematics and have combined scores on MCAS tests that place them in the top 25 percent of students in the graduating class in their district.
“This is an amazing number of our local students receiving this incredible advantage,” Chairman Joseph Scott said. “This is an incredible success story.”
Next up was Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Elise Frangos. Frangos said that on December 3 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm, a highly noted speaker will give a talk for parents, grandparents, and students on the responsible and ethical use of social media. The talk will be held in the ORR Junior High library, and all are welcome.
“Sexting, texting, and all about what is ethical and appropriate will be discussed,” Frangos said. “We encourage parents, grandparents, and others to attend.”
A statistic quoted by Frangos noted that those between the ages of 16 to 34 years old regretted social media notes and data that remain in the social domain years later and may be resulting in fewer job opportunities and future options.
A parent of a student came before the board and asked for permission for a fundraiser for the sixth-grade class at the school. His proposal was for students to draw a map of the town of Marion, with local advertisements around it, as seen in many towns, and distribute it, free, to local businesses. The board, after a brief discussion, agreed to the request.
In other business, Gene Jones, Director of Facilities, reported that the interior and exterior light upgrade at Sippican is 95 percent completed.
By Joan Hartnett-Barry
Rachel P. (Stover) Grainger, 91, of Marion died Monday, November 4, 2013, peacefully at the Decatur House assisted living in Sandwich, MA.
Rachel, known as Peggy, was the wife of the late Douglas H. Grainger.
Born in Nutley, NJ, daughter of the late Jordan H. Stover II and Helen (Weeks) Stover, she was raised in Greenwich, CT where Peggy met her husband shortly after World War II. They moved to Boston where she started her career in decorating. Peggy had an amazing sense of color and decorating, paired with a vision of what a home could become. However, she was far ahead of her time in the business world. She bought and renovated many homes in the surrounding area. In order to achieve this career path, Peggy had to get her husband to obtain loans, because banks would not lend to her on her own. She fluffed and flipped houses 30 years before the term was coined.
She was a direct descendant of Jacob Stover who drove General George Washington’s wagon during the Revolutionary War.
She and her husband enjoyed extensive travels throughout Asia. During this time she became an expert in Japanese and Chinese porcelain. She founded and owned Dynasty Antiques for 35 years. Peggy was a member of the Kittansett Club since moving to Marion in 1971. Among her hobbies were fishing, gardening, painting and entertaining.
Survivors include her four sons, Douglas H. Grainger, Jr and his wife, Ann Marie, Jacob S. Grainger and his wife, Jody, Gary B. Grainger, Geoffrey W. Grainger and his wife, Karilon and eight grandchildren.
A celebration of her life will be planned at a later date.
Arrangements are with the Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home for Funerals, 50 County Rd., Mattapoisett. For on-line guestbook, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.
Nancy T. (Hamel) Rothwell, 71, of Mattapoisett died Tuesday November 5, 2013 at St. Luke’s Hospital after a brief illness.
Born in New Bedford, the daughter of the late Joseph and Mary (Henriques) Hamel, she lived in New Bedford and Mattapoisett for most of her life.
Mrs. Rothwell was formerly employed as a secretary and factory worker for Titleist.
Nancy was an Elvis Presley fanatic. She was an avid football fan and loved spending time with her family.
She is survived by three children, Alieta-Marie Lynch of Branford, CT, Dori-Ann Rothwell of Gulfport, MS, and Benjamin Rothwell of Poughkeepsie, NY; a foster son, Frederick William “Freddie Boy” Rothwell III of New Bedford; a brother, Joseph Hamel of Wareham; a sister, Diane Hamel of Acushnet; and six grandchildren.
Her Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Friday Nov. 8th at 10 AM at St. Anthony’s Church, Mattapoisett. Burial will follow in Cushing Cemetery. Visiting hours will be on Thursday from 4-7 PM at the Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home for Funerals, 50 County Rd., Route 6, Mattapoisett. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project, P.O. Box 758517, Topeka, KS 66675, or Southcoast Cancer Center, 208 Mill Rd., Fairhaven, MA 02719. For directions and guestbook, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.
For men who are retired, semi-retired, or thinking of retirement, this group brings together men aged 55 and older who share conversation, with coffee and refreshments, once a month. Bring in your ideas or topics.
Meetings are held at the Mattapoisett Library, 7 Barstow St., downstairs conference room, from 10:00 to 11:00 am on the second Wednesday of each month. The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 13.
If you have any questions, please call Jackie at 508-758-4110.
On October 29, AFS club held a pumpkin-carving contest in celebration of Halloween. Given the chance to show their artistic abilities, students were excited to participate in the fun event. Some were motivated by the possibility of winning one of the four monetary prizes. Throughout the two days following the carving contest, Old Rochester Regional High School staff members voted on the 18 jack-o-lanterns on display in the school’s lobby. Winners were announced on Halloween.
The first place prize of $50 went to Kyra Lorden for her carving of the Pokemon character Charmander. Second place prize, $30, went to Chrystina Hai and Hannah Lerman. Third place prize, $20, was awarded to Andrew Carey, and fourth place prize, $10, was granted to Matthew Fortin.
The preschool students were also given a chance to vote for their favorite pumpkin. Thus an honorary $10 prize was given to Morgan Browning and Samantha Malatesta for their pumpkin carving of a kitten.
The event was organized by AFS club, but the entire school was invited to participate. “We did it on a smaller scale last year, and the kids that did it really enjoyed it,” said club advisor Kim Corazzini. “I thought that it would be fun to generalize it to the whole school.”
While the pumpkin carving ran smoothly, the planning behind the event was extensive. Art teacher Joanne Barrett generously allowed the students to use the art room for the carving process. Students were asked to bring their own pumpkins, but the carving tools posed a dilemma.
“Obviously we couldn’t have kids bringing cutting materials into school,” said Corazzini. “That was one of the problems, but we were able to figure it out.”
The Mattapoisett Brotherhood of Police Officers kindly donated supplies for carving. They purchased packages of tools for the pumpkin hollowing and carving process. The Brotherhood also charitably donated the monetary prizes.
“It all came together,” Corazzini said. “It was nice. It wasn’t just AFS kids that did it, so that was fun.”
Next year, Corazzini hopes to open the event even further. Along with the pumpkin carving contest, she would like the AFS club to create a “haunted hallway” for the other students and younger kids to enjoy. Corazzini said she would love the event to be something the community could participate in, along with ORR. With all the creative jack-o-lanterns carved at the contest, it seems a shame that they aren’t displayed longer. “I’d like to share them with other people if we could,” Corazzini said.
As next year’s plans are brewing, this year’s pumpkin-carving contest can be considered a great success.
By Renae Reints
