Memorial Cruise Has Record Turnout

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With a full moon and a high tide, more than 100 people enjoyed a two-hour cruise out of New Bedford on the 85-foot MV Cuttyhunk for the annual Charles A.R. Pickles Memorial Cruise on Saturday.

The event’s proceeds fund scholarships for Community Boating of New Bedford, which offers scholarships to children who want to learn how to sail. The event also donates to the Beverly Yacht Club’s junior sailing program. Charles A.R. Pickles was a sailing instructor at the yacht club for many years.

“This event brings so many people together in Charles’ memory,”  Diane Bondi-Pickles said. Charles lost his life suddenly in 2006 in a skateboarding accident.

“We host this cruise to celebrate the things that were most important to Charles, which were family, friends, good food and being on the water,” Bondi-Pickles said. “We don’t do a silent auction or sell T-shirts … this is just about enjoying the company of good people in a beautiful setting.”

Pickles was the son of Marion Town Clerk Ray Pickles, and many of the attendees work at the Marion Town House. Some joked about how the town would be ‘up the creek’ if the ship went down.

Attendees included friends, classmates, relatives and neighbors of Charles and some who never knew him.

“We saw the [event] in The Wanderer and thought it would be a great experience, and it is,” said Judy Selwyh of Mattapoisett, who came with her husband, Lee.

“Believe it or not, every year we’ve had a beautiful evening,” said Bondi-Pickles, who claimed that it was Charles who saw to the weather.

By Joan Hartnett-Barry

Tri-Town Graduates and Awards

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Kristyn A. Avila, daughter of Brian and Margaret Avila, graduated Magna Cum Laude in the Occupational Therapy Assistant program at Bristol Community College.

Greg Sethares, Acting Vice President for Academic Affairs at Bristol Community College, has announced the Vice President’s List for Spring 2013. Area students named are:

Marion: Kristyn A. Avila, Diane S. Battaglia, Kristine Cauble, Rhea L. Ford, Julie L. Geller.

Rochester: Natasha L. Dalton, Amanda L. Eldridge, Jeanne A. Laporte, Justin M. Machnik, Killian M. McAssey, Jae R. Rouillier.

            The following local residents are among those to be named to the Roger Williams University Dean’s List for the Spring 2013 semester: Hannah Dupont, Rochester, majoring in Media Communication; Amy Malkoski, Marion, majoring in Visual Arts; Ryan McArdle, Marion, majoring in Finance; Justin Taylor, Rochester, majoring in Engineering.

Cody J. Nadeau of Marion has been named to the McDaniel College spring 2013 Dean’s List with Honors.

John Santos of Marion graduated from the University of Hartford during spring commencement weekend and received a Bachelor of Arts.

            Christopher Igo of Mattapoisett was named to the spring Dean’s List at Merrimack College.

Gardens by the Sea

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A tour of beautiful Marion gardens, sponsored by St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church, will take place July 12 from 10:30 am to 4:30 pm. Included is a luncheon at a private club. Profits go to global and local outreach programs. Tickets for lunch and tour must be purchased by July 9. Cost is $40. “Tour only” tickets are $20 each. Tickets may be purchased by mail with Payment to: Ruth Bolton, 3 Rosemary Lane, Unit B, Wareham, MA, 02571. Please make out your checks to: St. Gabriel’s Garden Tour. Tickets are also available at the Bookstall in Marion, the Marion General Store and at the church office on South Street. Questions? Call 508-748-1507.

Flash Flood Warning Issued

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The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch for our area extending through Friday. They are expecting a frontal boundary to bring heavy rainfall to the region and the system could stall over our area extending the rain over a period of several days. Flash flooding is possible with widespread moderate to heavy rain and thunderstorms. There is also a small craft advisory in place for the waters south of Buzzards Bay as they are expecting higher than usual waves and patch fog along with heavy rain.

Harbormaster Transition Under Way

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Members of the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen interviewed three potential candidates Wednesday for an opening for the town’s Harbormaster position.

The three candidates are Katelyn Schwebach (of Mattapoisett), Robert Caton (also of Mattapoisett) and Jill R. Simmons (of Fairhaven). Currently, Horace Field III is the interim Harbormaster, and he will stay on in the future as Assistant Harbormaster, as well as to train the newly appointed Harbormaster.

Selectmen’s questions revolved around concern over the applicants’ ability to handle different types of vessels, as well as willingness to be on-call and to be fully devoted to the job during boating season and experience in customer service.

The job’s busy season is from early May to late October, when most boating activity takes place.

All three candidates seemed highly qualified for the position, with officials saying that the Mattapoisett Marine Advisory Board had previously narrowed the group of three down from a group of 11. Ultimately, the decision of who to hire is up to the Board of Selectmen.

“It goes to the quality of the top three people,” said Alan Gillis, Chair of the Marine Advisory Board.

The group hopes have someone in the position by July 15.

By Nick Walecka

Vendors for Rochester Country Fair

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The Rochester Country Fair is seeking interested vendors for participation in the upcoming Rochester Country Fair. The Fair, now in its 14th year, features a unique mix of old-fashioned events and contests, a parade, woodsman show, tractor pulls and so much more.

This year’s “Welcome to the Jungle” Theme Fair will be held August 15 through 18 at 65 Pine Street in Rochester. Craft Vendor booth spaces are available for a fee of $125. Space is limited and is given on a first come, first serve basis, with preference given to vendors selling unique and homemade items. Applications and registration info can be found on the Fair’s website at www.rochesterma.com or emailing rcfvendor@comcast.net.

For those interested in visiting the Fair, it will offer many unique old-fashioned events for the entire family.

You will need to come prepared if you wish to participate. You must bring your own frog to compete in the Frog Race. Other children’s events will include Running with Scissors Obstacle Course, Nerf Olympics, and a Lawn Mower Race just to name a few. For the young at heart, the Fair will offer Truck and Tractor Pulling, Horseshoe Contest and Live Wrestling featuring WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka!

Admission to the Fair is $4 on Thursday and $5 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Children age 5 and under get in free. There is no fee for parking. Additional event information can be obtained on the Fair’s website www.rochesterma.com.

Road Race Award Winners

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The Mattapoisett Road Race Committee recently met to finalize preparations for it’s 43rd 5-mile run to be held Thursday, 4 July at 9:00am. The Committee is headed by Bill Tilden, ORRHS Athletic Director.

Throughout the history of the Race, the Committee has given over $120,000 in awards to Tri-Town Students who have been involved with running. Awards for 2013 went to Abigail Hiller, Fredric Murolo, Alex Milde, Janice Weldon and Brian Tranfaglia of Mattapoisett; Alexandra Saccone, Luke Mattar, Meagan Bell and Nick Pacheco of Marion and Hannah Welsh from Rochester.

Community merchants continue to be generous in their support with donations or sponsors of t-shirts. Highlights for this year’s race are the Harpoon Harmonizers singing the “Star Spangled Banner,” Core Performance Tech shirts for the first 750 registered runners, sale of “Future Runner” shirts the day before and day of the race, and recognition of the most spirited spectators along the Race route!

Runners can sign up at Shipyard Park on July 3 from 5:00 to 8:00 pm for $20.00 or on July 4 from 7:30 to 8:30 am for $25.

More information at www.mattapoisettroadrace.com. Also, check us out on Facebook!

Southeastern Massachusetts Artisan Exposition

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Professional artisans throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island have been selected by Anthi Frangiadis Associates to participate in the premiere Southeastern Massachusetts Artisan Exposition (SEMAX), an outdoor tented exposition featuring handmade artisan work that can be used in and around buildings, taking place June 29 and June 30 in Marion Village. Architectural applications for both interior and exterior uses were given priority during the selection process in the following media categories: clay, glass, stone, wood, metal, fiber, vegetation, and any mix of the mentioned media. Fine art complements the exposition and is limited in scope.

Exposition tickets are available in advance for $5 per person (children under 12, free) at Anthi Frangiadis Associates, 11 Spring Street, Marion, MA, or online www.anthif.com/rsvp. Exposition tickets the days of the event are $10 per person. Due to the nature of the artisan work, we kindly request no pets or strollers under the big and fabulous Sperry tent. The Pythagorean Lodge A.F. & A.M. will offer a fine selection of food and beverages; proceeds will benefit the Masonic Angel Fund. The Lodge menu will be complemented by R’Shucks Travelin’ Raw Bar.

SEMAX is an outdoor tented exposition with a focus on architectural applications for both exterior and interior use. The exposition will feature over 30 artisans from across Massachusetts and Rhode Island who design and handcraft furniture, accessories, and fine art and is open to the public and trade. Artisans will showcase works in clay, glass, metal, wood, fiber and mixed media. All work is for sale, order and/or commission.

For more information, visit www.anthif.com and click on the SEMAX logo or call 508-748-3494.

Tennis Court Issues

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To the Editor:  

The Mattapoisett Community Tennis Association (MCTA) is a public service organization like the Lions Club, Boy Scouts and the Red Cross. We are a nonprofit corporation chartered in Massachusetts in 1999, and registered with the United States Tennis Association (USTA). We have no paid employees – we are all volunteers – and our goal is help all of the people in the community get together to play tennis. Our only income is from donations and a very small membership fee of $15 per year. What we get out this effort is having people to play tennis with since we are all tennis players.

Another public service organization, the Lions Club, raised the money to rebuild and enlarge the four tennis courts at Center School in the early 1970s. It was a huge success. Hundreds of people in the community used and enjoyed the courts. It was the first Golden Age of Tennis. Twenty-five years later, the courts were in need of repair again. But the Lions Club had changed its focus to supporting eye research only, so the MCTA was founded in 1999 for the express purpose of revitalizing the four courts at Center School. The MCTA raised $35,000 and spent $25,000 patching the surface of the four courts, making them playable again in 2001. Then we experienced the second Golden Age of Tennis. The courts were in constant use by the community, the ORR High School tennis team and the MCTA.

As part of the renovation of Center School in 2003-4, a driveway was put in to the back of Center School, cutting two of the four courts in half. The MCTA had submitted an article in Town Meeting in 2000 for the repair of the courts, but received only $4,500 from the Town. So the MCTA used $2,500 of this to have the engineering firm that helped with the design of the school renovation design three courts in 2004 to fit into the remaining area. We have been trying to find a way to fund the construction of these three courts ever since.

This year the Recreation Department was able to obtain a grant of $170,000 from the Community Preservation Act Fund, which is just what is needed to build the three new courts we had designed. But without any consideration of the design we had for three courts, they went ahead with making new plans for just two courts in that area, and tearing up what was left of the courts that had been cut in half, making them into some kind of a public park.

The mainstay of tennis today is drop-in tennis, where players come together at a given time and place to play tennis for an hour and a half. After the two courts had been cut in half in 2004 there were still two courts remaining at Center School. But the MCTA found that we could not organize drop-in tennis on just two courts. So the MCTA has been forced to play in Marion, Wareham and at Old Rochester Regional High School ever since. It is very hard to keep a drop-in tennis program going when we have to move from one place to another during the season.

The Recreation Department, Board of Selectmen, and Town Administrator were well aware of our efforts to rebuild three courts at Center School. We had made presentations to all of the town departments involved with this project for over a 10-year period. When nothing appeared to be happening in response to our efforts, we petitioned an article in Town Meeting in 2010 for $100,000 to rebuild the three courts, and were planning to make up the remaining cost of $20,000 to $30,000. But the article was amended to include only $15,000 from free cash, and failed by 6 votes because it would not have moved the project forward.

The Recreation Department is rushing to get the two-court project started before the people in town can voice their opposition to their plan of reducing the number of tennis courts in that location. The MCTA has asked for a meeting with the Town Administrator, Board of Selectmen and Recreation Chairman to discuss this issue. But they have not responded to our request. It appears that our only option is to call for a special town meeting. The MCTA provides a valuable service to the community at very low cost. We hope that the town officials will begin to work with this public service organization to provide the value that the people in this community deserve. We have been helping the people in this community for 13 years. Now we need your help in convincing the town officials to reconsider their plan for only two courts.

Robert Brown

Mattapoisett

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.

Proud Ghosts of Point Connett V

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Editors note: This story has been serialized into six parts which will appear weekly in The Wanderer and at wanderer.com

•Click Here to Read Part One

•Click Here to Read Part Two

•Click Here to Read Part Three

•Click Here to Read Part Four

By Rudd Wyman

Part V

I am about to go outside the tent for a smoke, and am approached by a distinguished-looking gentleman in Randy boat shoes, with dyed red hair poking from a signature baseball cap reading “Coed Naked Volleyball.”

“My name is Henry Wiggington,” he says, “and I am an old sailing buddy of Bob’s. I have enjoyed your magazine essays: ‘Shark Hunter’s Guide for Dummies’ and ‘Sailing for the Heluvit.’

“I would like to ask you if you truly believe everything that you write about.”

This was not a direct question, and I took the offensive: “Are you truly into volleyball?” “The hat is a disguise,” he says. “I teach a journalism course at Harvard, emphasis on creativity. In September, my class will focus on juvenile behavior and teenage awareness.” Peering at me over a bulbous nose, Wigginton continues. “Harvard will pay you to chair a three-day workshop on creativity.”

He hands me a colorful business card: “Henry Wiggington, Coed Volleyball for Mature Adults.” I wonder: wrong card?

I am aware that Henry is not after my autograph, and, smelling smoke in the cockpit, I intend to ask Bob about Wigginton’s shenanigans.

My war hero friend is a respected businessman in Norfolk, his Winter home, and he is the architect of a well-publicized aerial photo of Point Connett.Rain has held off, and Bob, on the seawall, is sipping a Sam Adams while enjoying the serenity of a few quiet moments away from the tent. I applaud that the blowfish remain gone, and we reminisce about a sword fishing adventure off Noman’s aboard his Tashtigo. There were beach buggy trips in my World War II Jeep, Weegetum, catching striped bass. Fishing has been an important factor to relieve my friend of postwar stress. “Is Henry Wigginton a friend of yours?” I ask Bob.

“Hanky Panky? He is a good person, Rudd, and crewed for me before the war,” Bob says. “However, Hanky lies a lot, and has frequent delusions of grandeur. In June, Hanky was held hostage by aliens, escaped, and he was captured by the Mattapoisett Police when he ran a red light on Route 6.”

I tell Bob that tonight Hanky is a Harvard Professor drumming up a midnight volleyball game.

My daughter, Sarah, a beautiful social butterfly, appears and asks, “Anyone up for a game of friendly volleyball?”

“You saw the hat!” I said, and we both laugh.

As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Life is a succession of lessons, which must be lived to be understood.” I recall an unexpected, shocking experience while power-sanding a wooden boat barefoot on wet grass, and wonder how I survived to possess a loving family.

While philosophizing, my son (Steve) and Jill’s son (Jim) return from Angelica, each hefting a keeper striper.

During the 1940s and 1950s, striper fishing from Dad’s 28-foot Hackercraft was an exciting challenge.  At this time, So-Ho may have been the fastest cabin cruiser on Buzzards Bay. Sleeping four, my family had delightful weekend trips across the Bay, through one of three holes, to Tarpaulin Cove, Hadley Harbor and Cutty Hunk. We cruised along side of the New York Yacht Club, with America’s Cup defenders, when beautiful ships sailed into Mattapoisett Harbor.

At an early age, I gained respect for the ocean, a fact that must have impressed both Andy Anderson and my Dad. Returning to Point Connett after a Boston trip, where my folks shared fog bound adventures with a crew of Amish people aboard a black schooner, we approached the East entrance to the Canal, and a routine entry. However, about halfway through suddenly waves hit So-Ho from every direction. Mom and I dawned life preservers as a waterfall of sea crashed through the windshield knocking off Dad’s glasses. Pots, pans, boxes, and oranges floated on the cabin floor as we plowed into a mountain of angry sea. To avoid being bowled over, Dad kept the bow straight into the turbulent water as any variation to Port or to Starboard would have been a certain knockdown. Finally, upon entering Buzzards Bay, there was a calm conclusion to a frightful experience for a young sailor and parents.

Continued Next Week

•Click Here to Read Part One

•Click Here to Read Part Two

•Click Here to Read Part Three

•Click Here to Read Part Four