Birds, Beaches and Bogs, II

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In 2009, the Marion Art Center hosted a gallery exhibition entitled “Birds, Beaches & Bogs”.   The show featured local artists and was such a success, that doing a second show was a foregone conclusion.  “Birds Beaches & Bogs II” will open on Friday, July 19th with an opening reception from 6pm to 8pm.  Members and guests are invited to come and meet the artists, and enjoy good food and libations.

Local artists, Sarah Brown, Heide Hallemeier, Molly Watson Hawley, Gail Marie Nauen and Michael Ouellette will exhibit paintings in pastels, oils, watercolor and acrylic.  Mike McCarthy of Mattapoisett Bird Works, will exhibit his beautifully carved and painted shore birds.

Sarah Brown of Marion has been exhibiting at the Marion Art Center since 1968.  She studied art at De Pauw University and then went to art and music school in France at Fontainebleau.  She is well known for her vibrant watercolors, and more recently she has been painting with pastels.

Heide Hallemeier was educated at the Art Academies in Vienna Austria and Germany as a graphic designer. She is a signature artist member and past board member of the Rhode Island Watercolor Society and a board member of the Westport Art Group. She has exhibited throughout New England and Pennsylvania and was accepted into many National Exhibitions and has won numerous prizes in juried exhibitions. She taught watercolor painting for various organizations, juries and judges shows and is part of the South Coast Open Studio Tour.

Gail Marie Nauen is an award winning artist residing in Carver, Massachusetts.  She is noted for her renditions of the seasonal changes in the local cranberry bogs. She was awarded a Massachusetts Cultural Council grant to portray the “Four Seasons of the Bog” for the Carver Public Library.  Gail Marie Nauen’s art is in many collections, including Ocean Spray Cranberries, Fidelity Investments, and Cranberry Hospice.  Ms. Nauen holds a B. F. A. from UMASS/Dartmouth and attended Parsons School of Design in New York. She has shown in numerous shows throughout New England and won awards at North River Arts Festival, Plymouth Art Guild, Rhode Island Watercolor Society and  South Shore Arts Center.  Of her work she says, “Living in Carver, Massachusetts the local cranberry farms supply a never ending array of seasonal images to draw from. These paintings reflect those explorations.  Invariably, something will catch my eye and I’ll just “have to paint it”. If time or weather conditions do not allow, I will often sketch the scene from memory back in the studio. Whether it be in the “open spaces” these cranberry bogs provide or through the emotional reaction these experiences evoke, I feel fortunate to find a lifetime of artistic pursuits so close by.

Molly Watson Hawley works in a number of media to explore how the surface images of the visible world represent a deeper and ultimate reality.  She began her undergraduate studies at Middlebury College, then went on to study graphic art at the Boston Museum School and The Cleveland Institute of Art where she specialized in printmaking. She has since worked extensively in other media, including pastel and oil painting, and more recently has produced a number of multi-media works combining fabric, photography, painting and drawing. For years she has painted commissioned portraits for private clients and institutions. Her work hangs in the permanent collections of Baldwin Wallace University, Cleveland’s University School and in a number of private collections. Her work has been widely exhibited in juried shows, including the Butler Gallery of Youngstown University and The Cleveland Museum’s annual May Show.  Hawley studied for a number of years with the plein air masters Cedric and Joanette Egeli at the Cape Cod School of Art in Provincetown. Her portraiture has been informed by her work with portrait masters Jose Cintron and Burt Silverman. In addition to her continuing portrait commissions, she is actively at work on an extended series of Cape Cod and Vermont landscapes.  Her home and studio are in Ripton, Vermont, where she lives with her husband, the writer Richard Hawley.

Michael Ouellette of New Bedford, will be exhibiting his large oil and acrylic paintings of birds.  Michael is known for his exquisitely detailed paintings of wildlife and landscapes.

Sippican Lands Trust News

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Sippican Lands Trust’s 13th Open Space Beach Bash tickets are now available for purchase! The event will be held on July 25 from 5:00 to 9:00 pm at Silvershell Beach, rain or shine, and is open to all!

Festivities will include a tasty Southern Barbeque by Preppy Pig BBQ, jammin’ music by Paneubean Steel Band, face painting by Handi Mandi and Capt Jack, magician and balloon entertainer for the kids and young at heart! A cash bar will be available serving wine, beer, soda and water.

Ticket prices are as follows: Adult BBQ (BBQ Chicken and Pulled Pork) $25, Vegetarian Option (Smoked Seasonal Vegetables) $20, and Child’s Option (Hotdog and Mac ‘n Cheese) $10. All meals include coleslaw, cornbread, corn on the cob, watermelon, and cookies.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.sippicanlandstrust.org, at the SLT office located next to Uncle Jon’s, the Marion General Store and the Bookstall. All tickets must be purchased in advance and if ordered online or mailed in, they will be held at the entrance of the event.

Please consider becoming a Patron ($350 includes three adult meal tickets and three drink tickets), a Sponsor ($250 includes two adult meal tickets and two drink tickets) or a Friend ($150 included one adult meal ticket and one drink ticket) of the event.

Founded in 1974, the Sippican Lands Trust strives to acquire, protect and steward natural areas in Marion. Its purpose is to conserve land, protect habitat and offer public access to the beautiful, protected lands of our town. Currently, our main focus is improving our events and educational outreach programs for nature lovers of all ages!

Please do not hesitate to contact Executive Director Robin Shields with any questions at 508-748-3080 or robinshields@sippicanlandstrust.org.

The Sippican Lands Trust is also proud to announce our Sunrise Yoga series. This series will focus on health and nature and will be held on the Brainard Marsh property. This is a scenic waterfront property that will provide a tranquil background for the yoga experience.

Our guest instructor is Angela Curry. Angela is a certified Kripalu instructor. Kripalu – which means compassion – is a form of yoga that teaches basic yoga postures and introduces the concepts of breath work.

Angela will be leading all three of the yoga sessions. She has been studying/teaching yoga for over a decade and teaches regularly at Yoga on Union in New Bedford.

Please join us to experience this beautiful landscape with the expert instruction of Ms. Curry.

The sessions are scheduled for: June 29, 9:00 am; July 13, 9:00 am; August 24, 9:00 am. Brainard Marsh is located off of Delano Road, Marion. Parking is limited, so please car pool if you can. For added comfort, please bring some water and a mat. For further information or questions, please contact the Sippican Lands Trust office at 508-748-3080 or email robin@sippicanlandstrust.org. Visit us on Facebook or at www.sippicanlandstrust.org.

The Poop on Your Pooch’s Poop

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It is unfathomable that in a town so tame, so beautiful, so willing to provide doggie doo-doo bags for free there are people with little respect for their fellow residents. These scoundrels are the people that don’t clean up after their dogs. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that people willing to leave their dog’s poop behind as they continue on with their walk don’t even have pride in themselves. How could they?!

Do a little Internet research and guess what you find. That’s right: Dog waste is bad. “Dog waste is an environmental pollutant. In 1991, it was labeled a non-point source pollutant by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), placing it in the same category as herbicides and insecticides; oil, grease and toxic chemicals; and acid drainage from abandoned mines.”

Recently, as I was walking with my pup Harry, I was horrified at the volume of dog feces along the roadside heading out to Goodspeed Island. The fact that there is a station strategically located at the very entrance to the area with poop disposal bags and a trash barrel for quick and easy cleanup seems lost on many pet owners. What the heck, people? Is it too much to ask you to stop for a second and get the mess off of the ground so that the next person coming along 1) doesn’t have to look at it; 2) doesn’t have to step in it; and 3) doesn’t have to worry about getting sick from it?

Then, as if that wasn’t bad enough, as we walked along Water Street heading toward Town Hall, I was horrified at the piles left on people’s lawns … people’s lawns, but wait … also on the lawn of our very own Town Hall! Who does this?

Continuing on to Mello Wharf after a brief stop to introduce Harry to Mocha, we ventured onto the small land trust area beside the wharf. This should be a refreshing venue, a place to enjoy the sea breezes and the harborside vista, but no. The grounds are littered from end to end like a cow pasture. Who would want to memorialize their loved one with a park bench at this location when it is a checkerboard of crap? Money has been spent to give the public this priceless little jewel, only to have it desecrated by careless dog owners. I’m disgusted, disappointed and sad.

How about going for a swim or digging for clams?

“It has been estimated that a single gram of dog waste can contain 23 million fecal coliform bacteria, which are known to cause cramps, diarrhea, intestinal illness and serious kidney disorders in humans. EPA even estimates that two or three days’ worth of droppings from a population of about 100 dogs would contribute enough bacteria to temporarily close a bay, and all watershed areas within 20 miles of it, to swimming and shell fishing.”

And then there is Ned’s Point Road. The shaded canopy, the fantastic homes, the ocean view at the end of the street: What is not to love, I ask you, with tears in my eyes? The dog mess at your feet, of course.

It makes you wonder what the owners of these dogs are really thinking. Are they thinking it’s OK to let their dog soil the grounds because someone else will clean it up, or “Gee, I forgot a bag, I’ll remember next time.” I think that people who can walk away from their dogs’ piles are simply hateful users who don’t give a rat’s behind for anyone but themselves, whose sense of entitlement includes spoiling public spaces or whose daytrip to our town means they are exempt from local bylaws and common decency. It is unlawful, after all, to let your dog poop and not clean it up, with up to a $200 fine.

I’m for allowing a citizen’s arrest of anyone who chooses poo over cleanliness! I’m going to ask Chief Mary Lyons if I can be deputized like in the John Wayne movies. How about returning shame punishment in the form of public stocks located in the center of Shipyard Park? Yeah, that’s the ticket. How about making them wear a brown t-shirt with a giant letter S on the front; think The Scarlet Letter. Or video surveillance? Would we be surprised who’d get caught casually walking away from a pile? Or how about anyone found violating public spaces with their canine’s waste having to spend a week cleaning the whole town in the manner they neglected to impose upon themselves?

“According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), pet droppings can contribute to diseases animals pass to humans, called zoonoses. When infected dog poop is deposited on your lawn, the eggs of certain roundworms and other parasites can linger in your soil for years. Anyone who comes into contact with that soil – be it through gardening, playing sports, walking barefoot or any other means – runs the risk of coming into contact with those eggs; especially your dog.

“Some of the hard-to-pronounce parasites your lawn could harbor include Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Salmonella, as well as hookworms, ringworms and tapeworms. Infections from these bugs often cause fever, muscle aches, headache, vomiting and diarrhea in humans. Children are most susceptible, since they often play in the dirt and put things in their mouths or eyes.”

Listen, we all make mistakes, but it isn’t a mistake to take your dog for their nightly constitutional knowing the very reason you are out there in the dark is to let your dog defecate on the ground and then leave it there to mummify in the sun and wind – or worse.

I hope and trust that if you see someone violating the doggie cleanup bylaws, you will speak up. It might not make that person do the right thing, but maybe the next time they will, and at least you would have dealt out a good dose of righteous indignation aimed at a deserving (fill in the blank)-head.

By Marilou Newell

Taste of the Town

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Stay cool under the big tent at Shipyard Park and sample delicious offerings at the Mattapoisett Women’s Club 10th Annual Taste of the Town.

The tent located on Buzzards Bay captures refreshing salt breezes that mingle with the sweet odor of strawberry bisque, enticing quahog chowder and more as Mattapoisett’s finest dining establishments always offer their signature dishes that are sure to get you hooked.

Menu samplings include cold soups that tantalize the palate, flavorful lobster rolls and shrimp with a zesty cocktail sauce – a vast culinary landscape.

A family-style atmosphere draws the entire town and beyond in support of the club’s mission of education through scholarship fundraising. Money raised stays in the community.

Ample parking is available, and for sailors, anchorage is available in the harbor.

Taste of the Town is a rain or shine event to be held July 16, 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm at Shipyard Park. Entertainment provided by the Showstoppers.

Elizabeth Taber Library Annual Book Sale

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The Annual Elizabeth Taber Library Book Sale will take place on August 10 from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Marion Music Hall.

Hardcover books will be on sale for $3, large paperbacks for $2 and regular paperbacks are $1. Children’s books will cost 3 for $1. DVDs will be priced at $2.

Please come and support your local library that uses the funds raised from the bookstore to continue its many programs and services.

Gently used book donations are still being collected at the library until August 8.

For more information on the book sale, call the library at 508-748-1252.

Mattapoisett Historical Society’s Little Explorers

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Children ages 4 to 6 are welcome at the Mattapoisett Historical Society this summer as we explore life in coastal Massachusetts through the years in a five-part series. Little Explorers will examine a different topic each week such as whales, ships and Native Americans. Each hour-long program will include games and hands-on activities. Registration is encouraged due to limited space. Donations are always welcome. Parents must stay at the museum during the programs. Thursdays, 1:00 to 2:00 pm, July 11, 18, and 25 and August 1 and 8 at the Mattapoisett Historical Society, 5 Church Street. For more information or to register, call 508-758-2844 or email mattapoisett.museum@verizon.net.

ORR Foundation Tabs Grant Recipients

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The Distribution Committee of the Old Rochester Tri-Town Education Foundation announced its 2013 Grant Award Recommendations last week, and the group is set to divide its nearly $10,000 Lighthouse Fund among multiple projects.

Old Hammondtown School teacher Kevin Tavares will receive $634 for his proposal, the “OHS Courtyard Garden Edible Schoolyard Project.”

Courtney Aarsheim and Marissa Hughes of Center School will receive $1,934 for their “Responsive Training” curriculum enrichment program.

Faculty Mentor Deborah Stinson and ORR High School students Joshua Bardwell, Adam Costa, Abby Hiller and Tim Gonsalves will receive $3,000 for their video project “A Look Inside the ORR School District.”

Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Elise Frangos, Technology Director Ryan McGee, and Curriculum Intern Audrey Farris will receive $3,500 for “ORR Visual Arts in the 21st Century: Multiple Platforms for Installation and Inspiration.”

The Distribution Committee selected awarded the four proposals after receiving nine submissions. Members included Chairman Kathy Eklund, Jackie Demers, Carol Hardy, Myra Hart, Karen Jacobsen and Paula Meere.

In addition, the ORR Tri-Town Education Foundation announced its 2013 recipients of the Lighthouse Book Awards, given to students for outstanding achievement in academic, cultural and civic achievement. The winners are selected by the teachers and principals of their respective schools, and each was presented with a Certificate of Achievement and a $25 gift certificate to the Bookstall.

ORR High School: Reane Reints and John Hewitt.

ORR Junior High School: Jack Gordon and Hannah Guard.

Rochester Memorial School: Michael Stack and Geneva Smith.

Old Hammondtown School: Alexander Wurl and Katherine Gillis.

Sippican School: Danny Hartley and Kyla Horton.

By Shawn Badgley

Officials Talk Wetlands Protection

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A complex landscape design plan proposed for 456 Point Rd. was discussed at a lengthy meeting on Wednesday by the Marion Conservation Commission. Applicants N. George Host and Laurie A. Host filed a Notice of Intent to landscape the property. Work includes trimming or removal of select trees, underbrush, and ground cover, and the replacement of vegetation as shown on their submitted landscape design plan. The parcel is six and one half acres.

The applicant was represented by David Davignon, N. Douglas Schneider & Associates; Chris Dindal, Morgan Wheelock, Inc.; and Jim Manganello of LEC Environmental. The parcel has a delineated wetland in the middle of the property and a second, fingerlike wetland on the property. Essentially, there are two isolated, vegetative wetland systems on both sides of the proposed driveway.

Davignon broke the discussion into nine sections, some with sub-sections and described the proposed activities in each section, which included removing a large number of trees, some located in the wetland areas. “This is a complex project,” said Davignon. According to Davignon, the property owners want to extend the water view from the property and beautify the driveway entrance. The property has a rolling lawn to a pier in Planting Island Cove.

The commission asked questions and discussed the project with the three representatives. The commission wanted more details on a proposed footpath, any grading to be done, a perennial stream on the property, and where the septic system would be located.

“Even fallen trees in a wetland provide habitat,” member Norm Hills said.

“There’s no grading shown on the plan,” member Joel Hartley said.

The commission closed the hearing and agreed to revisit the property and asked the applicant’s representatives to provide the missing information. The hearing was continued to July 24 at 7:20.

Next up was a Notice of Intent for Warren P. Williamson IV and Lee H. Williamson of 125 Converse Rd. to perform the following activities within the 100-foot buffer zone to a bordering vegetated wetland: construct a portion of a deck, install a portion of a drainage pipe, and perform land clearing and grading associated with the construction of a dwelling located outside the buffer zone.

Davignon represented the Williamsons.

The home would be constructed 100 feet away from a wetland, and some of the deck is within the buffer zone. The property is located in an AE 15 flood zone. The commission discussed a proposed path to a common path used by golf carts, which connects to the communal pier. The applicant proposes to put two-foot-wide planks on 2x4s sitting on concrete blocks over the wetland area.

The commission asked Davignon to re-set the flags outlining the wetlands for another visit to the site by the committee members. The public hearing then closed.

In other business, the board held a public hearing for Ann Iannuzzi of 9 Shellheap Road for a Notice of Intent to eradicate phragmites, Japanese knotweed, Asiatic bittersweet, and other invasive plant species. Susan Nilson of CLE Engineering represented the applicant. The area is adjacent to the retaining ponds at Silvershell Beach.

“My client plans to do the work in late summer or early fall, after the phragmites have bloomed,” Nilson said. No replacement plantings are planned for the area at this time.

The board announced that they are seeking to fill a vacancy for an Associate Member of the Conservation Commission. Interested applicants should contact the Town House at 508-748-3560.

By Joan Hartnett-Barry

Town Officials Reappointed

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A brief meeting was held by the Marion Board of Selectmen on Thursday to reappoint staff from various town departments.

Those whose contract was renewed for one year included the members of the Building Department: Scott Shippey, Building Commissioner/Inspector of Buildings/Zoning Enforcement Officer; Robert Francis, Alternate Building Inspector; Randy Caswell, Inspector of Wires; Mark Farrell, Alternate Inspector of Wires; Paul Maloney, Plumbing & Gas Inspector; and Steven Gibbs, Alternate Plumbing & Gas Inspector.

Police Chief Lincoln Miller was reappointed for a three-year period.

Others reappointed included Michael Cormier, Harbormaster; Isaac Perry, Deputy Harbormaster/Shellfish Officer; and ten assistants to the Harbormaster/Shellfish Officer, including Scott Cowell, Michael Paolella, John Potito, Christopher Washburn, Peter Borsari, Vincent Malkoski, Chester Smith, Carl Dias, Paul Hyde, and Adam Murphy.

William Titcomb, Veterans’ Agent/Grave Officer, was also reappointed.

By Joan Hartnett-Barry

Keel Awards

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The Wanderer is once again pleased to announce 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 25 issue, 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 have included:

• 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).

• 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).

• 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).

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 18 at 3:00 pm. Selected recipients will be announced in the July 25 edition.