Beverly Morgan Crampton

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Beverly Morgan Crampton, aged 62 years, of Mattapoisett, died unexpectedly, at home on Sun. March 18, 2012. She was born in Middleboro, daughter of the late William A and Anna M (Norlander) Crampton. She was a graduate of Apponequet Regional High School, and the University of Bridgewater. Survivors include a brother, Byron and his wife Mary Anne Crampton of Lakewood, OH, two nephews, Andrew and Christopher Crampton. A graveside service will be held on Sat. March 24th at Pine Island Cemetery, Rte. 6 Mattapoisett, at 2 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to: Southcoast Humane Society Shelter, 31 Ventura Dr. Dartmouth, MA 02747, would be appreciated. Arrangements are being handled by the Egger Funeral Home, Middleboro. For more information, please visit www.eggerandashleyfh.com

Barbara Welling

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Barbara Welling, 82, passed peacefully at home on Saturday, March 17, 2012. A long-time resident of Mattapoisett, Barbara was born in Stafford Springs, Connecticut. She attended Boston University, where she received her BA in music and where she met her husband of 46 years, the late Mason Welling. They settled happily in Mattapoisett and raised 4 children, George, Kathy, Mary Jane and John.

Barbara taught for many years at the East Fairhaven School and was active in the local bird club, garden club and various civic and community groups. She enjoyed the company of many friends and neighbors and will be very missed by everyone who knew her.

Barbara is survived by her children, four grandchildren, 2 great-grandchildren, and her brother Robert Keirans.

Her Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, March 24th at 10:00 am at St. Anthony’s church in Mattapoisett. Burial will follow in Cushing Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Mattapoisett Land Trust. Arrangements are with the Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home for Funerals, 50 County Road, Mattapoisett. For online condolence book, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.

Helen (Walulik) Kiely

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Helen (Walulik) Kiely, 82, of Rochester passed away on Tuesday March 6, 2012. She was the wife of the late Edmund J. Kiely.

Born in Plainfield, NJ, the daughter of the late Michael and Veronica Walulik, she lived in Plainfield and Lebanon Township, NJ for many years before moving to Rochester in 2005.

Helen was formerly employed as a quality control technician at Ethicon in Bridgewater, NJ until her retirement.

Helen played baseball on three teams in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1948 – 1950. She also played basketball for the New York Covergirls in the 1950s.

She was a volunteer at the Rochester Senior Center.

Survivors include three children, Karen O’Hara and her husband Brian of Scituate, RI, Jill Santos of Rochester, and Robert Kiely and his wife Alison of Portsmouth, RI; five grandchildren, Kathleen O’Hara, Paige and Brooke Santos, Conor and Patrick Kiely; and several nieces and nephews.

She was the mother-in-law of the late Steven Santos, and sister of the late Stanley Walulik, Mary Terry, Alfred Walulik, Jean Walulik, Frances Ayers, and Stelle Kopf.

Her Memorial Mass will be celebrated on Saturday March 31, 2012 at 10 AM at St. Joseph’s Church, Fairhaven. Visiting hours are omitted. Arrangements are by the Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home for Funerals, 50 County Rd., Mattapoisett. For online condolence book, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.

Mattapoisett Council on Aging Holds Art Show

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The Mattapoisett Council on Aging will host an art show this Saturday, March 24, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.  The exhibit features over 30 paintings from the council’s art class.  Admission is free and refreshments will be served.  The Council on Aging is located at the Center School, 17 Barstow St.

Bay Watch Project Decision Delayed

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When it comes to Bay Watch Realty’s 40B project, the end is yet to come.

On March 22, the Zoning Board of Appeals once again continued a public hearing on the developer’s proposed affordable housing development, a 96-unit project off Route 105 that would include 60 affordable rentals and 36 single-family homes.

The hearing covered much ground, as peer review engineer John Churchill indicated that with applicable conditions – Bay Watch has addressed his engineering concerns to his satisfaction.

Bay Watch attorney Ken Steen said a proposed emergency access drive has been relocated due to grading issues, and that the Marion Fire Chief has approved the design change.  Also, since the last hearing, Bay Watch had a “handshake agreement” with abutter Sherman Briggs for an easement to allow emergency vehicles to traverse his property.

Steen also discussed the school bus situation, and said that Sippican Elementary School’s bus contractor – Braga Transportation – agreed to enter the site to retrieve the children. Steen said an indemnity agreement between the two parties would be enacted for this purpose. Bay Watch engineers did add to the plan a bus stop along Route 105 given the agreement with Braga expires or falls through.

“Clearly this is the preferred location. This will make a lot of difference for there will be a good number of children [at the development],” Steen said.

Board member Betsy Dunn asked if the local school committee would need to get involved, but Steen indicated that the agreement would be between the two private parties.

It was noted that this issue would be mute if the town ends up adopting the roadway into the development, as proposed by Selectman Jon Henry. At the hearing, Henry again made his case that town oversight would eliminate potential problems in the future.

“We, the Selectmen, would like some control,” he said. “There have been a number of roads not built to standards, with water systems poorly done.” In the end, the town eats the costs, he said. Henry acknowledged that the public roadway issue would not come up until after it is built, but said, “I don’t want it to be a showstopper.”

The most significant issue holding up a decision involves the question of how many of the project’s single-family homes would be classified as affordable. At a previous hearing, Bay Watch representatives proposed selling two out of the 36 three-bedroom residences as affordable (at 80 percent of the median income, about $200,000)– but the Marion Selectmen are pushing the developer to designate 25 percent, or nine homes, as affordable.

ZBA Chairman Robert Wedge insisted that the developer furnish the board with financial records to justify why more than two designated affordable homes would make the project economically infeasible.

“I don’t feel comfortable without the Pro Forma,” Wedge said, arguing that he cannot make a decision without seeing the numbers.  “Would a businessman take your word for it? What do you have to gain from hiding the ball?”

Attorney Ted Regnante, representing Bay Watch, responded that it is not a matter within the jurisdiction of the ZBA and “unnecessary.”

Later during the hearing, Wedge put on the table that he is comfortable with seven units, but Ken Steen, of Bay Watch, said, “If you had the condition that we sell 7 houses at 80 percent [of median income], we can’t do this deal.”

“This project requires a tremendous amount of infrastructure and is extremely expensive,” he added, noting that just building the 1,500-foot road, including the bridge, into the project would cost $2 million.

Complicating matters is that MassHousing has not yet decided whether the proposed bifurcated project – with 100 percent of the rentals deemed affordable and with only six percent of the single-family homes designated affordable – even meets the criteria to be considered part of Marion’s affordable housing stock. Normally the state requires that at least 25 percent of units in a 40B are affordable.

Regnante said MassHousing is meeting with the Department of Housing and Community Development on April 5 to “hopefully provide a definitive answer on this project.” However, both Wedge and Bay Watch officials agreed that MassHousing is unreliable and could drag out the case.

“This could theoretically go on until June or July,” commented Steen.

Under the suggestion of Town Counsel Jon Whitten – Bay Watch and the ZBA decided to reach an agreement on their own terms, and write as a condition that the developer will designate affordable whatever MassHousing requires, but if they require no affordable single-family homes Bay Watch would still keep the two promised homes as affordable as a measure of good faith.

Then, after a recess for Bay Watch representatives to confer on the Pro Forma request, Regnante finally relented and offered to present Bay Watch’s financial documents in a workshop before the next hearing, which is scheduled for April 5 at 8:00 pm.

By Laura Fedak Pedulli

MAC Offers Beginners Watercolor Class

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This course is designed for adults who would like to try watercolor painting, but do not know where to start.  Students will explore different techniques, while working on landscape, still life, figurative, and /or imaginative painting, in a nurturing environment.

Tuition for the 8 week session is:  $160 for Members of the Art Center and $175 for non-members.  Materials are not included.  A suggested supply list is available upon request.

The instructor Patricia White, is a painter and Gallery Instructor at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.  She is past President of the Marion Art Center and a current Exhibition Committee Member.  She studied Realist Painting at the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts, and has shown her work in numerous exhibitions in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, including the Marion Art Center, The Jonathan Bourne Library, The Wareham Library , Don’s Art Shop of Warren, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Gift Shop of The Cape Code Museum of Art.

To register please call the Marion Art Center at 508-748-1266.

ORR District FY 2013 Budget Discussed

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The Old Rochester Regional district fiscal year 2013 budget topped the agenda at the Joint School Committee meeting on Thursday, March 22. Superintendent Doug White provided an update to the committee on where next year’s budget stands.

“When we started this back in November, and we were looking for level funding, it was about a $1.4 million increase we would have needed to cover all of the expenses in all of our six schools. Right now we’re looking at about $521,000 to support the education that will be happening in the four districts,” he reported.

White said public hearings on the budgets for all three towns are scheduled, with Marion on March 27, Rochester on April 5, and Mattapoisett on April 9.

In other business, Superintendent White spoke about Rochester Memorial School’s search of a new principal to replace Jay Ryan, who is retiring next fall. District officials narrowed down seven candidates from 21 applicants, he said, and interviews will begin next week.

“There is a committee with representation from the school, the community, and the central office,” White said. This committee hopes to announce the new appointment in May, he said.

School Business Administrator Katie Isernio also took time to report on the status of the region’s funding from grants.

“Even though the nature of the grants have changed, the amounts have been relatively stable,” she said.

While the dollar amounts may be steady, the loss of the education jobs grant and money from the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act significantly impacted the budget, Isernio said.

Elise Frangos, director of curriculum and instruction, informed the committee on her latest activities. She reported attending a conference at Harvard Law School on bullying and harassment and said she is looking to improve how students, faculty, and administration respond to incidents and support the victims.

“Bullying is no longer connected to time and geography,” she said, as social media makes bullying possible with a quick text or status update. Since the conditions that surround bullying have drastically changed over the years, so should the strategies used to deal with the problem, she said.

Frangos discussed the benefits of district schools receiving small grants from the non-profit operation DonorsChoose.org. With this website, public school teachers can post project requests, from field trips to pencils, and patrons of the website can then choose which projects to fund.

Lastly, the committee discussed some policy changes, and voted to approve alterations made to the School and Family Relations Goal policy and the Professional Staff Salaries and Contracts policy.

The Joint School Committee will have their next meeting on May 10 at 6:30 pm in the library at ORRHS.

Curtain Call for ORRHS Spring Musical

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After 12 weeks of rehearsal, endless hours of memorization, and the tedious practice of perfecting English accents, students in the drama club at Old Rochester Regional High School were ready for the final dress rehearsal of their production of “The Boy Friend.”

The play, which is more like a theatrical institution responsible for launching the American theater career of Julie Andrews, is a satire centered on a group of young women at a boarding school in the south of France during the 1920s.

While the subject matter of the production may seem both foreign and dated for the cast and crew of over 100 people, they embraced it from day one.

“I am so excited for this show and for these kids,” said Paul Sardinha, ORRHS Drama Club Director. “The kids have really pulled together and they are way excited.”

Backstage, it was excitement mixed with anxiety and uncertainty. On Monday, they had not made it through the entire show from start to finish, which left some members wondering how the rest of the week was going to go.

Katie Holden, a senior at ORRHS, plays the female lead character, Polly Browne.

“We had a really rough Monday. But then something happened on Tuesday and we really raised the bar. The whole night everybody was so amped up because we did so much better,” she said.

While Holden is a four-year drama club vet, she admitted that balancing her character with the rest of the show was a challenge.

“Polly’s character is unique because, the whole show is a farce, but she is the only one who has to play it straight.” Straight, in this case, includes her character speaking in a high-strung, silken head voice while striking exaggerated, statuesque poses one may expect to see in old silent films.

ORRHS junior Max Houck, who plays Tony (the “Boy Friend”), had never acted on stage before.

“I had fun, but I had to play catch up to a lot of people. I didn’t know how to act in a theater or how to even project my voice. But the whole show will be great, so I’m excited,” he said.

For old hands and green horns alike, being a part of live theater means you are part of a family, for better or for worse. Tempers often flare, but the frustration is rarely personal. Each member of the cast and crew knows they are part of a team that shares the same endgame.

Juliana Marques, a senior, has been a member of the stage crew for seven productions, and in that time, has become quite the “Jane” of all trades.

“The fun part for me is that I get to do a lot of different things, so I’m never bored. In the past, I’ve done lighting, sound, costuming, sold concessions,” she said. The set for “The Boy Friend” is sparse, relying heavily on gorgeously ornate painted backdrops to complete the scenes.  But that doesn’t mean there isn’t much to do.

“I’m responsible for a lot of the set moving, making sure people are hitting their marks, and making sure the changes go smoothly,” said Kurt Correia, a senior and stage manager for the show. “I actually love the stress. It’s weird. But at the end of the night when it’s done, the feeling of relief after the stress goes away is amazing,” he said.

After a short delay, the show got off to a great start and the dress rehearsal was indeed a success. With a full pit orchestra, light and sound cues, the audience of senior citizens was enchanted by the whirling melodies and choppy Charleston kicks that emanated from the stage.

The ORRHS drama club was breathing life into an old favorite that ranks as the third longest running show in Broadway history. The troubles of Monday night seemed to be a distant memory for the cast and crew as they barreled forward with an innocent and tenacious charm most common in stage actors. Live theater has always been about giving and taking. The actors give everything they have and the audience takes with them what means the most, whatever that may be.

“The Boy Friend” will run from March 23-24 at 7:30 pm and March 25 at 2:00 pm in the ORRHS auditorium. Tickets are $12 for seniors and students with an ID and $15 for adults and can be purchased at the Marion General Store, the Pen and Pendulum in Mattapoisett, the Plumb Corner Market in Rochester or in the school’s office during school hours.

By Eric Tripoli

Mattapoisett Couple Helps Raise Money for Heart Research

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For the past five years, Kelly and Marc Weglowski, founders of “Healing little Hearts,” have been working to raise money for pediatric heart research at Children’s Hospital Boston. They have specifically focused their efforts on research of tissue-engineered heart valves that grow with a child and reduce the necessity for multiple, risky open heart surgeries in children with congenital heart defects.  They became involved in fundraising because of their son Brady’s ongoing involvement with Children’s Hospital.

“Brady is alive today because of the amazing efforts of Children’s Hospital Boston. Brady is now a healthy six-year old, but he was born with a severe, life-threatening heart defect — he has endured seven heart surgeries, 15 cardiac catheterizations and five days on life support,” said Kelly.

Family and friends of the Weglowski family work from September to March to plan the event that is held the first week of March every year.  On March 3, 2012, the fundraiser reached a milestone – a half-million dollars raised over the past five years. There were over 300 attendees at the event, many from the tri-town area.

“We are so blessed to have a community of people that come out and support this cause. It means a great deal to our family, and we look forward to the day when tissue-engineered heart valves will be available for all children that need them,” said Kelly.

Sippican Healthcare Center Cruises Hawaii

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The Sippican Healthcare Center in Marion has been renamed this week. The new name is the Sippican Royale and she is a cruise ship heading out of Marion Harbor to the ports of call of Bermuda and Hawaii. The ship departed on Monday, March 19 and will return on March 23.

“It’s been a long winter and we brainstormed for ways to break up the monotony of the winter and came up with a cruise theme,” said Activities Director Anne O’Connell Bishop. “Our residents can’t go on a cruise ship or to a casino, so we brought the ship and the casino to them.”

In the lobby sits an impressive seven-foot ship named the Sippican. Crafted by artist Tom Lynch, it’s made of cardboard egg crates. The ship has portholes, flags, a smokestack and a colorful deck.

Residents wearing sailor hats with nautical decorations admired the ship along with the other decorations, which included buoys and life preservers. A red carpet leads the way to the dining area, with colorful parrots dangling from the chandeliers.  Residents will have the opportunity to have their photo taken with the captain, Rosemary Carlson, Administrator at the health care center.

“The whole building is involved, including the food service,” said Food Service Director Randy Frazier.

According to Frazier, the facility will go all out on Thursday, March 22, when the ship docks in Hawaii, and will offer a buffet with a captain’s table, ice sculpture and carving stations for ham and a turkey.

“Residents can choose whatever they like, instead of the usual planned meal,” said Frazier.

Candida Rose, a talented vocalist will entertain with a Love Boat theme during the buffet dinner. Rose’s godmother is a resident and when she heard about cruise week, she volunteered to sing at the Thursday dinner event.

Residents will be served pink drinks and enjoy karaoke before the buffet. After dinner, they will head to the casino to try their luck at the roulette, blackjack tables and slot machines.

The activity room has transformed into a casino with real slot machines and a blackjack table where staff act as dealers, with vests, chips and cards. The room has been dubbed the “high roller casino” and has large playing cards, hula dancers, palm trees and seashells as decorations. Residents carry homemade passports and must present them when asked.

“I won with 19 out of 21,” said resident Loraine Laverviere, beaming at her win as volunteer Joe Kelly dealt another round of blackjack.

“When we posted our cruise idea to the staff, they all got involved, with our two real slot machines being loaned to us by one of our nurses. Others brought in lava lamps, lighted palm trees, life preservers, hula skirts and many of the decorations in the various common rooms. We wanted to lift spirits and the planning and organizing of this week was so much fun for our residents and staff. You can feel the excitement,” said O’Connell Bishop.

By Joan Hartnett-Barry