Rochester Groups Celebrate Earth Day

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In celebration of Earth Day, the Rochester Women’s Club and the Rochester Land Trust will be sponsoring a town-wide cleanup on Saturday, April 21 and Sunday, April 22. Both organizations encourage and welcome residents to join in the effort. To select a cleanup route and to receive trash bags, go to the designated location as follows.

•Saturday, April 21 from 9:00 am – 1:00 pm: The Joseph Plumb Library

•Sunday, April 22 from 9:00 am – 1:00 pm: The Rochester Women’s Club

Volunteers will be able to leave bags along the route.  The Rochester Highway Department will pick them up.  Join us to welcome spring by beautifying our town.

ORRJHS Students of the Month

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Kevin T. Brogioli, Principal of Old Rochester Regional Junior High School, announces the following Students of the Month for March 2012.

•Green Team: Skylynne Richards-Auld and Kameron Silvia

•Blue Team: Katie Gifford and Jacob Spevack

•Orange Team: Madeline Meyer and McIvin Vincent

•Red Team: Madison Cristaldi and Becket Kiernan

•Special Areas: Casey Allaire and Damon Ivester

Safety Vest Donation

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Dear Editor:

Six members of the business community have made generous donations to help purchase safety vests for the children of Marion. These vests will have two uses. They will be used for the town-wide annual spring Cleanup Day on May 12 when families, school groups, scout troops, and citizens turn out to do roadside litter clean up.

Also, scout troops in Marion are now volunteering to adopt certain areas of town to do monthly litter pick-up. The safety vests have been marked with the logos of the Marion Tree and Parks Committee and the Sippican Lands Trust, the two main sponsors of litter cleanup in Marion. These vests will serve to highlight the efforts of the young kids who volunteer to keep their town clean while making them much more visible while walking along our roadsides.

Hearty thanks go to the businesses that made the purchase of the vests possible.

Tinker Saltonstall

For the Marion Tree and Parks Committee

 

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.

 

Emergency Preparedness Training

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Learn about your local Emergency Dispensing Site and how you can assist with its operations, which will benefit your loved ones and neighbors in the event of an emergency. Medical and non-medical volunteers are needed to assist with emergency preparedness.

Part one of emergency preparedness training will be held on Tuesday, April 24 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at the Center School in Mattapoisett.  Pre-registration is required and a light supper will be provided. The training is open to any residents in the Tri-Town.

For more information or to register, contact Maureen Murphy of the Marion Board of Health at 508-748-3530 or mmurphy@marionma.gov. This event is sponsored by the Middleborough Area Medical Reserve Corps.

Marion Cub Scout Arrow of Light Recipients

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The Arrow of Light, the highest award in Cub Scouts and the only one that carries over to a Boy Scout career, is earned by Webelos that have been active participants in their den and are ready to join a Boy Scout troop.

Many of the requirements for the Arrow of Light are intended to familiarize the scout with a local troop and show him that crossing over into a troop is the next step to take in scouting. A scout that earns his Arrow of Light patch has also completed nearly all the requirements to earn the Scout badge in the troop so he has already begun his Boy Scout trail.

“I am very pleased to congratulate the following boys for achieving the highest achievement in cub scouts, the Arrow of Light. A tremendous amount of work over a two-year period is required to achieve this designation,” said Scoutmaster Doug Breault. “I like to think of our Arrow of Light recipients as the Navy Seals of the cub scouts, and look forward to seeing each new batch of Arrow of Light recipients as they complete their tenure as a cub scout, and are ready to enter Marion Boy Scout Troop 32.”

The 2012 recipients are Jackson St. Don, Will Garcia, Danny Hartley, Dylan Villa, Sam Gordon, Zachary Pateakos, Harrison Burke and Alex Reichert.

For more information or to join the Marion Cub Scout or Boy Scout Troops go to www.marionscouts.com.

Agricultural Commission Introduced

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The Rochester Planning Board introduced a new commission comprised of six men and women who are passionate about agriculture at their meeting on Tuesday, April 10.

“It’s so nice of you to volunteer you time,” said Planning Board Member Ben Bailey.

The Agricultural Commission came to fruition after years of planning with the ultimate goal of balancing small commercial agriculture while helping Rochester maintain its public safety and rights of its citizens.

The Planning Board said that they have been approached by several commercial agriculture businesses in recent years with official proposals to build enterprises in Rochester.  However, none of these ideas came to reality because there were no regulations set in place.  That’s where the Agricultural Commission will step in.

The commission will ideally create a set of regulations that commercial farmers must adhere to if they wish to start a business in Rochester. The purpose of setting the regulations would be to protect the abutters of the property where these businesses would be established.  With commercial farming comes loud equipment, traffic, etc. The Commission wants to know their citizens are protected and as content as possible with the addition of these businesses in town.

Both groups agree that the biggest challenge will be finding a balance of bringing new business into town and preserving Rochester’s rural culture and agricultural character.  On one hand, new business would help lower taxes, but the both committees think traffic would become a problem and residents would be upset with noise levels. The Planning Board also worries about the potential for growing storm water problems.

On the other hand, the Agricultural Commission wonders whether or not too many regulations would scare potential businesses off. Both groups recognized that it will be impossible to please all residents, and that they can’t keep businesses out just for the sake of a couple noise complaints. There needs to be a balance.

“We need to make it easier for the agricultural community to do things,” said Agricultural Committee member David Souza.

Since the Committee is in its initial stages, it agreed that the best step to take right now is to define the areas of concern and define what is not wanted in town. In order to draw these conclusions, they will interview local farmers and look to other towns as models. While there are no official dates set in place, the Planning Board said the Agricultural Committee’s first report could happen as soon as the Fall Town Meeting.

In other news, the Planning Board agreed to look into the potential of drafting solar bylaws for the town. The board will look at the towns of Kingston and Dartmouth as models for what they could be looking for, even though the majority of the board feels like solar energy is “unreliable and a waste of money.”

The Board compared solar energy to a phenomenon much like that of cell phone towers, and they worry that after the 20-year leasing period is up, what will happen to the land that was cleared to make the solar farm? If the solar phenomenon is over, irreversible damage could already have been done to the area.

“I don’t think we should get too carried away with it,” said Planning Board member Susan Teal.

The Planning Board also voted to send a letter to the Zoning Enforcement Offer reporting the owners of Sperry Tents are in violation of their site plan.  The business had until April 1 to make revisions that the Planning Board made to their original site plans, and they were unsuccessful in making the repairs.

Lastly, the Planning Board contemplated the idea of downsizing to a five-person board in order to better ensure attendance at all meetings. They will reevaluate after the Town Elections to make the best decision.

By Katy Fitzpatrick

Every 15 Minutes

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The lecture trailed to an end in my Honors Economics class as the door swung inward and the Grim Reaper strode into the room. Walking purposefully to the back of the classroom, he placed a spare chair next to senior Ian Gray and gestured for Mr. Carroll to continue teaching, which he did. A minute later, the Grim Reaper tapped Mr. Gray on the shoulder and led him out of the classroom.

Mr. Gray returned 15 minutes later dressed in black clothes and wearing ghostly facial makeup.  For the rest of the day, he didn’t communicate with anyone at Old Rochester Regional High School because he was one of the seniors who was “killed” by a drunk driver. A poster of Mr. Gray with the words “Killed by a Drunk Driver” currently hangs in Mr. Carroll’s room.

The Grim Reaper makes an annual appearance at ORR as part of Every 15 Minutes, the two-day drunk driving awareness program for seniors. The name for the program comes from the statistic that someone dies every 15 minutes in an alcohol-related motor vehicle crash. Seniors participate in the program every spring during the first week of April, long before both the senior prom and graduation ceremony in June. This year, Every 15 Minutes took place on Wednesday, April 4 and Thursday, April 5.

My experience with Every 15 Minutes was slightly untraditional as I was participating in a field trip on April 4 with members of the Advanced Placement English 12 class. We were not in the building during the two presentations of the Every 15 Minutes video and the following address by Tri-Town police officers, so we had to watch the video on Tuesday, April 3, instead. The rest of the student body attended the presentations according to their class schedules.

The presentations lasted roughly 45 minutes and presented the stories of different New England high school and college students who drank, drove, and paid the price in either their life or the lives of others. The police officers who volunteered their time to Every 15 Minutes spoke about their experiences sharing the news of such motor vehicle crashes to parents, friends, and loved ones.

The difficult, emotionally draining part of Every 15 Minutes occurred on Wednesday, April 5.  The students who were “killed” spent the night on campus with both school staff and guest speakers for the coming senior assembly. The police officers visited the homes of the participating seniors to tell their parents that their son or daughter died in an alcohol-related motor vehicle crash. Parents and children then each wrote letters to the other that expressed their love, regrets and sorrow at being parted in such a tragic and sudden way.

The next morning, the seniors met in the auditorium for the assembly at 10:00 am. The assembly began with a presentation by a Rhode Island nurse and mother who spoke about her experience with victims of alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes in the emergency room. Her stories were both professional and personal, as she moved the audience by speaking about her son’s best friend’s death during her shift and, not much later, her own son’s death. (This story was also part of the Every 15 Minutes video that the seniors had watched the day before.)

Afterwards, the participants in Every 15 Minutes took to the stage with Tri-Town police officers to perform a skit about the consequences of choosing to drink and drive. Volunteers from this small student population sat with their parents on the stage and took turns reading their letters to their classmates, which made nearly the entire senior class distraught.

Another guest speaker, a 19-year-old girl from Taunton, spoke about her own motor vehicle crash (not related to alcohol, drugs, or distracted driving) and her feelings of guilt after harming another person, imploring the ORR seniors to always be careful while driving, no matter what. To conclude, guidance counselor Donna Perry opened the microphone to all seniors who wanted to share an experience with tragic motor vehicle crashes. When the assembly drew to a close, the seniors ate lunch together before attending their last class of the day.

By Anne Smith

ORR Track Teams Open Season Strong

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•Old Rochester Boys and Girls Track – The ORR boys and girls had their first meet with Case High School with a successful outcome for the Bulldogs on both fronts. For the girls, a few highlights include Janice Weldon winning the 800 meter, Abby Hiller and Hannah Walsh placing second and third, respectively, in the mile, and Gabby Kondracki and Meagan Bell taking first and third, respectively, in triple jump.

The ORR boys also won, with Kevin Saccone placing well in hurdles and David Romanowicz in High Jump. Next up for ORR, they will travel to Wareham to take on the Vikings.

•Old Rochester Girls and Boys Lacrosse – The ORR girls started off the season well with a home game against Mashpee that ended 10-6 in ORR’s favor. Unfortunately, in their next game at Bishop Stang, the talented team defeated ORR 15-4. Things did not improve when they traveled to Bourne and lost 9-5 to the Canalmen.

The ORR boys team was also lost to Stang in a double overtime game ending with a score of 7-6. Despite this, ORR had many outstanding performances including Anthony Cammarano, who ultimately had 15 saves, Cam Severino with three goals and two assists, Max Houck who had two goals and an assist, and Mike Durocher who made up the last goal for ORR.

The Bulldogs recovered from this loss quite well, however with their first SCC game and win over Bourne 10-3. Goalie Anthony Cammarano had 17 saves, and contributing scorers were Cam Severino, Mike Durocher, Peter Krause, and Max Houck all with two and Gared Glavin and Bobby Stickles each with one.

•Old Rochester Boys Tennis – The ORR boys started off strong, beating Bishop Stang 4-1. Matt Teefy did well, scoring 6-4 and 6-0 in his singles matches. For doubles, Noah Filloramo and Alden Truesdale also did well, scoring 6-1 and 6-2 against Stang.

The Boys then faced Dighton-Rehoboth in a hard fought victory for ORR with a final score of 3-2. Jake Jaskolka and Ollie Sughrue, despite being in the 3rd set, overcame that and ultimately were huge assets to the team scoring 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 and 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 respectively in their singles matches.

By India Krawczyk

ORRJHS G.E.E.K.s Win State Tournament

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The ORR Junior High School team known as the G.E.E.K.s won first place in the Destination Imagination Tournament on April 2 in Waltham. The team beat out over 10 regions in the state. The team will represent the state of Massachusetts in the Global Tournament, which will take place in Knoxville, TN over the Memorial Day weekend. The Global Tournament will include a team from each of the states and 23 other countries.

The five-member team includes Kyle Rood, Sara Lafrance and Edward Krawczyk from Rochester and Rikard Bodin and Holly Frink of Marion. The G.E.E.K.s acronym was the name chosen by members and stands for great, extraordinary, entertaining kids.

“It’s taken us seven years to get to Globals,” said Kyle Rood. “That’s been our goal and it’s unreal.” Rood is especially excited about the opportunity to stay in a dormitory and visit the campus at the University of Tennessee.

The team won by creating a movie trailer, presented live, that portrayed the adventures of an Icelandic man who went searching for Bigfoot in Nepal. The skit had to include the interaction of characters from at least two countries and had to have a special effect, a music soundtrack, cast, crew and show native culture.

Nothing could be pre-recorded and the trailer had to be completed in under four minutes. The team was allowed one minute to set up for its presentation, which left little time to move props, costumes, scenery, the special effects and ready the music prior to the signal from the timekeeper.

The team was scored with a point system within the areas of storytelling, international cultures, cinematic special effects, music and sounds, theater arts, creativity critical thinking collaboration and communication. The G.E.E.K.s took top honor in all scored areas, qualifying them to represent the state at the next level. The team also won a Renaissance award for exceptional creativity, set design and engineering.

The team special effect was a campfire made of lights, aluminum foil, streamers and a small fan.  Another scene included a three-dimensional pop up cave, which earned a high score from judges.

The purpose of the movie trailer was to immediately attract an audience’s attention and make them want to see the full movie. The team met in January to get story ideas and have worked almost every weekend and during February vacation to get the skit as fine-tuned as possible. “The hard work all paid off at the tournament,” said team managers Kerry Bulman and Tina Rood.

”It’s amazing that we could do this in our second year,” said Rikard Bodin, who referred to the van trip down to Tennessee as an exciting “road trip” for the five friends.

“It’s taken us so long to get here and it’s awesome,” said Ed Krawczyk.  “This was my first year and I still can’t believe we’re going to Knoxville,” said Holly Frink.

If the past is any indication of what the G.E.E.K.s can do, they just might come home with another trophy.

Destination Imagination is a non-profit that provides educational programs for students to learn and experience creativity, teamwork and problem solving.  Each year, over 125,000 students in the U.S. and more than 30 countries participate.

By Joan Hartnett-Barry

Celebrate National Library Week!

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Libraries are an essential part of any community.  Here in the Tritown, Marion’s Elizabeth Taber Library, Rochester’s Joseph H. Plumb Library and the Mattapoisett Free Public Library provide books and so much more to residents of all ages. April 8-14 is National Library Week, so what better time to drop into the library and check it out? Here’s a look at some events being held this week at all three libraries.

Elizabeth Taber Library, 8 Spring St., Marion 508-748-1252 

  • Tuesday, April 10:  Lap sit and story time for children from birth to 23 months of age. 10:30 to 11:00 am. This story time consists of 20 minutes of lap sitting and 20 minutes of socializing.
  • Wednesday, April 11: Tales for Twos, children ages 24-39 months. 10:30 to 11:00 am. Children can enjoy crafts, finger plays and story times.  All children must be accompanied by an adult.

Joseph H. Plumb Library, 17 Constitution Way, Rochester 508-763-8600

  • Thursday, April 12: Library Snapshot Day. Join the Plumb Library staff as they celebrate National Library Week by taking pictures of its patrons and submit them to the Statewide Massachusetts Library Systems Flickr Pages.  Pictures will be taken all day from 1:00 to 8:00 pm.
  • Friday, April 13: Mary Leonard’s Knitting Group. Join crocheters and knitters alike at the library as they enjoy coffee, tea, cookies and crafting from 2:00 to 3:30 pm.

Mattapoisett Free Public Library, 7 Barstow St., Mattapoisett 508-758-4171

  • Celebrate National Library Week by “liking” the Mattapoisett Free Public Library on Facebook and your name will be entered to win a new Kindle Fire. New Facebook fans of the library between April 8 and May 12, as well as existing Facebook fans of the library, will be eligible to win.
  • Saturday, April 14: Used Book and Bake Sale. Hundreds of great book bargains for children and adults will be available for sale from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. The Friends will also be holding a bake sale in the library.  Stop by from 9:00 to 10:00 am and support the Junior Friends by bringing in your redeemable cans and bottles.
  • Saturday, April 14: Poetry Reading with Clara Silverstein and Grey Held. Join these Boston-based poets as they read some of their works at 2:00 pm. Refreshments will be served and a book signing will follow the reading.