Barbara M. LeFavor

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Barbara M. LeFavor, 77, of Wareham died Wednesday, June 5, 2024 at St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford where she was born on March 3, 1947.

            Daughter of the late Phyllis (Chartier) and William C. LeFavor, Barbara graduated from Bishop Stang High School in 1945. She worked in the assessor’s office for Town of Wareham, retiring as chief assessing clerk in 2014 after 47 years.

            Barbara was a communicant of St. Patrick’s Church in Wareham and enjoyed baking, shopping and spending time with her grandchildren who she adored. Barbara’s love for family was evident in her thoughtful birthday celebrations and her famous Christmas dinners.

            Survivors include her son, Daniel LeFavor and his wife Julie of Marion; her brother, Philip LeFavor and his wife Cindy of Rochester; sisters, Donna Adams of Marion and Deborah Hazlett and her husband Robert of W. Bridgewater; cherished grandchildren, Bree and Jack LeFavor; her aunt, Irene LeFavor of New Bedford, her brother in-law David Ewan of Wareham, and many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her sister, the late Paula Ewan and her brother in-law, the late Nelson Adams.

            Relatives and friends are invited to visit on Monday, June 10, 2024 at Chapman Funerals & Cremations – Wareham, 2599 Cranberry Hwy. (Rt. 28), Wareham from 4 to 7 pm. Her funeral will be held on Tuesday, June 11 from the funeral home at 9 am followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at St. Patrick’s Church, 94 High St., Wareham at 10 am. Interment will follow in St. Patrick’s Cemetery, Wareham.

            Donations in her memory may be made to St. Patrick’s Church, 82 High St., Wareham, MA 02571. For directions and on-line guestbook visit: www.chapmanfuneral.com

Keys to the White House

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Recently the Prime Minister of Japan was given the key to the White House. Yeah, our White House. But the souvenir was not given by the current resident. No, a former resident who dreamed up the idea of a souvenir “Key to the White House” has been giving them out to foreign dignitaries for some time.

            I don’t think it unlocks anything. It’s pretty big. The giant key is gold plated with the presidential seal, and that former president’s name engraved on the side.

            I visited the place once and nobody gave me a key. I guess I was not dignified enough. Oh well, I’d probably misplace it or lose it outright anyway.

            Who knew the White House had a key? Does it even need one? After all, there are Secret Service guards everywhere and a big fence surrounding the place. It’s pretty well protected. Some conspiracy believers say there are even mines planted around the grounds and that the current president’s dog set one off, that’s why it no longer resides there. But I don’t think that’s true.

            If there is a key, is the president the keeper of it? Does he march around the building at midnight in his pajamas checking to see if the doors are locked? There are 412 doors in the White House. He’s a busy man and needs all the sleep he can get. Maybe he assigns that chore to the vice president, who probably isn’t very busy anyway. According to John Nance Garner, a former vice president, the office isn’t “worth a bucket of warm spit” (except he used another term that isn’t appropriate for a family newspaper).

            Is there more than one key? Does the president carry around a chain with 412 keys on it? Does he have his own key to the situation room or the White House bowling alley or movie theater? If he did, he could sneak off, lock the door and watch “Real Housewives of Washington” or take a nap, and no one would know where he was.

            Does he have a key to the wine cellar? Does the White House even have a wine cellar? Inquiring minds want to know.

            Has any president been a sleepwalker, forgotten the key and locked himself out in the middle of the night? The American people should know if their president is a sleepwalker. It’s a good thing presidents aren’t allowed to drive because, if I were the chief executive and had the key to the presidential limousine, I’d love to take out the “beast” for a spin.

            Do they change the locks with each new president? Does it come with the nuclear codes? What do they do with the old keys? Is there a junk draw in the resolute desk filled with keys that other presidents leave behind? Does the new president have to shuffle through it, trying to find the key to the executive washroom?

            Oh, if you were wondering, Theodorus of Samos invented the first key in the 6th century BC to keep important documents safe in lock boxes. According to legend, he wore his key around his neck to show he was wealthy. Does a president wear the White House key around his neck?

            Come to think of it, how many foreign dignitaries have a key to the White House?

            The CIA should keep a list!

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

Thoughts on…

By Dick Morgado

Old Shed Won’t Stop New Work

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            An old shed of an incalculable age helped seal the deal, as Rochester’s Conservation Commission Tuesday approved a Notice of Intent application to permit installation of a gravel driveway, stone patio and walkway and landscaping and to include work within the 100-foot buffer zone of wetlands at 96 Wolf Island Road.

            Previously, the commission had raised concerns about an existing shed on the property 25 feet from the wetlands “no-touch” zone, and the members recently conducted a site visit to see if the structure was an obstacle to granting the permit.

            Project engineer Bob Rogers of G.A.F. Engineering said Tuesday the only town records available show the shed was renovated in 1988, but no other indication of its age exists.

            “The shed is definitely older than 1988,” acting Chairman Ben Bailey answered, noting its rotting siding and shingles.

            “Clearly the shed is old enough to be grandfathered in,” Commissioner Michael Gifford said.

            Commission members concluded the shed could easily be grandfathered into the project being permitted and unanimously endorsed an Order of Conditions for the work.

            The commission also agreed to the next step in the Herring Run restoration and maintenance project, the commission’s plan to clear the sometimes-clogged, herring-run area from Hartley Farm Pond to the start of the Rochester Boat Race.

            Herring Inspector David Watling said the town needs to measure the cubic yards of dredging material that has to be moved to clear the run. Bailey said he and board member Bill Milka will be able to take the measurements themselves. The two set an appointment to do so at the start of the herring run area on June 7.

            Bailey said the plan is not to remove the dredging material but to perhaps use it to build a berm on the other side of the bank.

            Watling later reported good news on the herring run itself.  He said he counted 9,353 herring in the run this year. He noted he counted 4,500 herring last year.  So this is twice as many as was in the previous count, he said.

            In other action, the board granted a three-year extension of the Order of Conditions set on July 20, 2021 for the Snipatuit Road solar project.

            Bailey updated the board on its approval at the last meeting of the wetland resource boundary limits for an address on Gifford Lane. He said the Request for Determination of Applicability (RDA) that the project petitioners applied for should have been an Abbreviated Notice of Resource Area Delineation (ANRAD) instead, according to advice from the Department of Environmental Protection.

            The filing of a RDA allows the applicant to side-step fees, but the work involved still requires town officials to conduct the delineation research. Rochester’s fee for such work is $2 per linear feet, ConCom members said. On that basis, the applicant would have paid approximately $1,000 for the appropriate permit. The commission resolved to henceforth require an ANRAD for such a project.

            The next Rochester Conservation Commission meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 18, at 7:00 pm at Town Hall, 1 Constitution Way.

Rochester Conservation Commission

By Michael J. DeCicco

Writers Workshop, Redux

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The next meeting is June 28. This is a place to share ideas and your work, whether you are a writer or just have stories that want to be told. We meet every fourth Friday, from 10:15 am until 12:15 pm, at the Mattapoisett Library, 7 Barstow Street, Mattapoisett, in the basement Community Room. Bring a piece of writing to share aloud or just come to listen at first; memoir, poetry, fiction, essay. Bring what moves you. No need to bring copies. Share your voice in a supportive setting. If you have a story inside you, we want to hear. Need more info? Contact artslandlady@gmail.com

SCUBA Vacation Bible School

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A fun Vacation Bible School program called SCUBA will be hosted at First Congregational Church of Rochester, 11 Constitution Way in Rochester, this summer! At SCUBA, kids explore what it means to have a friendship with God! Kids participate in memorable Bible-learning activities, sing catchy songs, play teamwork-building games, devour yummy treats, experience one-of-a-kind Bible adventures, collect Bible Memory Buddies to remind them of God’s love and test out sciency-fun experiments that get imagination bubbling. Plus, kids will learn to look for evidence of God all around them through something called God Sightings. Each day concludes with a Fin-tastic Finale that gets everyone involved in living what they’ve learned.

            This free program for kids in Grades K – 6 will be held on July 15-19 from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm each day. Register online at vbspro.events/p/966f16. For more information, contact the church office at 508-763-4314 or rochestercongregational@comast.net.

Bulldog Pride Alumni Association’s Award

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The president of the ORR Bulldog Pride Alumni Association, Thomas Xenopoulos Peccini ‘88 announced the winner of Bulldog Pride Award at Senior Awards Night on Thursday, May 30, 2024. In attendance were fellow alumni and officers, including the Hon. First Justice of the Hingham District Court and Class of ‘88 valedictorian, Heather (Smith) Bradley.

            Through this award, the ORR BPAA wishes to recognize a graduating senior of the Class of 2024 by virtue of the pride for ORR, who may go unnoticed because of the unsung values that are often missed by scholastic or athletic merit-based awards. Unique to the Bulldog Pride Award, the profile of the successful candidate features active participation in and leadership of the ORR community, championing fellow students, the class and ORR. Through recognition of students who passionately support their peers in school activities, the BPAA promotes kindness and good will towards others, as the pathway to acceptance and inclusion. This is the spirit of the Bulldog Pride Award.

            The executive committee founded the Bulldog Pride Award at its Quarterly Executive Committee Meeting on January 28, 2024. It also approved the funding of this award based on the fundraising efforts of the BPAA during this school year’s Homecoming 2023 where the association’s events over alumni weekend raised in excess of $8,000 with pledges totaling nearly $35,000. The alumni association voted unanimously to fund the award for the next five graduating classes. The precursor to this award was the ‘88 Bulldog Pride Award. Founded in 2019 by the alumni and friends of the Class of ‘88, the award was given to a graduating senior of the classes of 2019 through 2023 in the amount of $300. This year, the recipient received $1,000, marking a significant increase to the funding of the award.

            Mattapoisett resident Murray Callahan was recognized with an Honorable Mention. This outstanding student deserves recognition as an inspiring team captain and for her extensive volunteer work, some of which are related to physical disabilities, both in the school and in the community. A committee member wrote in the assessment of Ms. Callahan’s application that this student “has demonstrated strong leadership skills by standing up for others, regardless of the personal cost.  Capable of doing the right thing even when it is extremely difficult, the student sees the big picture to achieve success as a collective unit. Selfless acts have allowed the team and teammates to excel. Another committee member wrote that Murray “is a young advocate for the ORR community, showing through her actions and words the spirit and dedication to helping other students to become their best selves while challenging herself to become even better.” Director Michelle (Gayoski) Tackitt ‘87 presented the certificate to Ms. Callahan.

            This year’s recipient is Alia Cusolito from Rochester, a student who most reflects the profile of the Bulldog Pride Award. From this student’s advocacy for fellow students, awareness training of faculty, and serving as an ambassador of the school in state and national events, Ms. Cusolito takes the extra step in promoting the values of ORR, leading from behind in non-traditional roles.

            The committee members wrote in their assessments that this “remarkable” student, “has demonstrated […] a passion to lead and to promote change in areas that need improvement” and “demonstrated leadership, an advocate for so many. This is the essence of Bulldog Pride.” The BPAA president shared with the assembled parents and relatives an excerpt from this student’s application, “I am aware that I don’t fit the image you may have expected when opening applications for this scholarship. I believe that being a student advocate is undeniably a manifestation of my school spirit and love for the students and the school itself. I commit to the values we hold as a community and genuinely hope to see our school flourish. My activism within our school, I believe, reflects my love for the Bulldogs as well as my active participation in shaping ORR’s future. Mr. Peccini commented that he noticed Alia cheering on each award winner throughout the ceremony, noting that this Rochester resident is an asset to the ORR school community. A certificate was presented to the winner by Secretary Lara Schofield, ‘88, and a commemorative plaque that will hang in the school was presented by Executive Committee member, Racquel Rezendes ‘88, conferred on behalf of the Scholarship & Grants Committee, chaired by Vice President Dana Palmer-Donnelly, ‘88.

            Heading off to Smith College in the fall, Alia will receive $1,000 for this distinction, made possible by the generous gifts of alumni of this school. Mr. Peccini thanked the alumni and friends for their generous contributions to the nascent alumni association, the guidance department for their assistance and to Principal Devoll and Superintendent Nelson for their continued collaboration.

            In lieu of the absence of alumni records going back to the class of 1963, all interested alumni of ORR and ORRJHS are invited to register in the database as members of the BPAA. Please click on the following link: forms/gle/LymUwv86nLJBr6MU9.

SRPEDD Presents Priority Areas

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            On June 3, the Mattapoisett Planning Board heard from Maria Jones, Engagement and Communications planner for the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD). The agency has been working on a study of priority natural resources as well as economic development potential of the Southeastern Massachusetts and South Coast Rail Corridor.

            Jones said the project that began in 2008 is now ready for review by communities along the corridor. She explained that a PDA (or Priority Development Area) is a place where new development growth might be feasible, a place that could meet regional needs and has good transportation potential.

            A PPA (or Priority Protection Area) was identified as an area important to protect, significant for natural or cultural resources and containing habitats, water resources, historic resources and farms.

            Much of the identified PDA and PPA areas had been previously identified when SRPEDD, over time, met with the former Town Administrator Mike Gagne and others to scope out such areas. On this night, Jones noted that little had changed. By 2013, boundaries based on data had been established. Continued refining of boundaries have since taken place with the aid of modern civic engagement and exploration of key sites.

            Jones said that PDA designations help communities to coordinate local plans and win competitive grants. The benefits of a PPA designation aid communities in coordinating local conservation efforts and, again, win competitive grants.

            The draft report being kicked off now will include working sessions to be scheduled in the winter of 2024. The draft report notes PDA-updated boundaries as minor along Industrial Drive, an expanded PDA due to the bike path, possible water resource at Tinkham Hill, identification of a sand pit behind Old Hammondtown School and a redesignation of the Holy Ghost Grounds. One PPA has been dropped, being that it is now part of a Mattapoisett Land Trust trailhead, Jones reported.

            Before moving on to other business, member William Wennerberg asked if SRPEDD could assist the town with crafting zoning bylaws, a measure the board is now contemplating as it looks at ways to increase housing units. Jones responded that she would inquire and let the town know. Wennerberg offered to step in as the board’s representative in this matter. All members were in agreement.

            Earlier, the board approved certificates of approval to David Duchaine, Ocean Drive, and to Phillip Frost, 112 Mattapoisett Neck Road; both property owners had presented subdivision plans at previous meetings.

            The board also reappointed Janice Robbins as its representative to SRPEDD Regional Commission.

            The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Planning Board is scheduled for Monday, June 17, at 7:00 pm.

Mattapoisett Planning Board

By Marilou Newell

Homecoming for New Principal

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The words “coming home” were the first used by newly hired, incoming Sippican Elementary School Principal Lynn Dessert.

            Dessert has lived in Rochester for 34 years and conducted her student teaching at Rochester Memorial School. Around that time, she fell in love with the Tri-Towns of Rochester, Marion and Mattapoisett.

            “I fell in love with the community and felt it was a community I wanted to be a part of,” Dessert said.

            Dessert said she and her husband moved to Rochester shortly after her time as a student teacher, and they raised two children in Rochester. Her children went through the local school system, and she will likely have grandchildren passing through Sippican during her time there as principal.

            Dessert has spent the last seven years as the Dighton Elementary School principal but wasn’t looking to move on.

            “My teachers and I all learned and had grown together,” she said.

            However, when the vacancy arose at Sippican, she couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to apply and interview there.

            “The best time to go for a job is when you don’t need one – you’re relaxed,” she said of the process of applying for the Sippican role. “It felt like the right fit at the right moment. … The universe just aligned.”

            Dessert said when her kids were young, she stayed at home and worked as a substitute teacher in the Tri-Towns and often volunteered for the local Girl Scouts, making her presence and leadership mark in the area before returning to education. Dessert later returned to education in New Bedford, climbing the ranks from a special education teacher, an after-school program director, a data specialist and then a principal.

            During her 13 years in New Bedford, Dessert at first did not want to move into administration. But when she began handling dual roles in New Bedford as a teacher and a data analyst, a superintendent noticed her great leadership skills. She became a principal at a New Bedford elementary school before taking the job in Dighton.

            Dessert said Dighton-Rehoboth’s district is similar to the Tri-Town community, and she looks forward to working with parents, staff and students at Sippican.

            In fact, she says her initial plans are to listen to all stakeholders, build relationships and collaborate with teachers and the school community.

            Dessert said the area schools are known for offering a challenging education, and she would like to build on that but also create a place where “all kids can excel.”

By Jeffrey D. Wagner

Boys’/Girls’ State

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Eight members of the class of 2024 at Old Rochester Regional High School will be attending the Boys’/Girls’ State Convention sponsored by the American Legion’s Florence Eastman Post 280, June 15-21, at Stonehill College in North Easton, MA.

            Boys’ State: The American Legion Florence Eastman Post 280 will be sponsoring Xavier Pateakos. Lawrence DiCara, Esquire, will be sponsoring Wesner Archelus in memory of George White, and Luke Devoe in memory of Jack DeCosta. Lastly, the Machacum Club will be sponsoring Nolan Bushnell.

            Girls’ State: The American Legion Florence Eastman Post 280 will be sponsoring Ella Bartholomew. The Mattapoisett Police Department will sponsor Emily Wyman. Lawrence DiCara will sponsor Caroline Brogioli, in memory of Gerry DeCosta. In addition, the Mattapoisett Woman’s Club will be sponsoring Emerson Gonet.

            To be eligible for Boys’/Girls’ State, a student must be a member of the junior class who has achieved high academic success. Delegates must also show evidence of leadership ability and an interest in the democratic process. At the convention, delegates will study local and state government. They will establish and operate their own cities and towns and state government in miniature. This will include forming two political parties, holding conventions, nominating candidates, conducting campaigns and electing officials. The primary goal of Boys’/ Girls’ State is for attendees to develop a better understanding of how State Government functions.

Exciting Adult Programs at the Mattapoisett Library

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This June, the Mattapoisett Free Public Library invites adults to join us for creative and musical events designed to inspire and entertain.

            On Tuesday, June 11 at 5:30, we are delighted to welcome back Karen Charbonneau Zukas from the New Bedford Arts and Cultural Emporium at Kilburn. Karen will guide participants through the intricate art of Tatakizome, an ancient Japanese technique of transferring flower patterns onto fabric or paper. This two-hour workshop promises to be both educational and visually stunning. To learn more and register, please visit our website.

            On Tuesday, June 25 at 6:30 pm, join us for an evening of blues-based roots-rock and classic rock with the dynamic band Jumpin’ Juba. Featuring Steve Hurl on electric finger-style and slide guitar with vocals and Dave Lockeretz on upright bass, this performance promises to get you moving and grooving. No registration required.

            All programs are free and open to the public. If you have any questions, please contact Michelle Skaar at mskaar@sailsinc.org. You can also find more information on our website at MattapoisettLibrary.org.