To the Editor

on

To the Editor:

Many people in Mattapoisett feel that the town is special. Marilyn and I feel that many people in Mattapoisett are very special. During my recent illness, after hospitalization, and during my stay at Alden Court, I required radiation daily for 43 days. Transportation to and from Southcoast Cancer Center in Fairhaven was not provided, so that meant that family and friends were necessary since neither Marilyn nor I could drive.

Ben Martin from the Lions Club took it upon himself to ask members if they could help. Not only Lions Club, Jack McGill, Ken Dawicki, Sue McGowan, Paul Lambalot, Don Bamberger, Paul Amoruso, and Jim Moran but also friends: Dale Barrows, Amanda Stone, Russ Bailey, Bruce Baggarly, Ralph and Pat Sanford, Donald Linhares, Luice Moncevitch, and both Bill and Nancy Quinlan and family Darcy, Danny and Tracey Lee.

I’ve always loved Mattapoisett and its people and this is an excellent example why.

Thank you,

Dan Lee

Mattapoisett

2011 Bulldog Dash Division Winners

on

Female Youth 1 – 12 – First: Kate Hughes, 11, Rochester, 13:40; Second: Meg Hughes, 9, Rochester, 14:22; Third: Ainslee Bangs, 11, Rochester 15:41.

Male Youth 1 – 12 – First: Adam Sylvia, 11, Rochester, 12:20; Second: Alexei Sudofsky, 12, Marion, 12:43; Third: Tyler Mourao, 12, Mattapoisett, 13:57.

Female 13 – 18 – First: Emily Roseman, 18, Rochester, 13:36; Second: Justine Jesse, 18, Marion, 13:59; Third: Hannah O’Day, 18, Mattapoisett, 15:10.

Male 13 – 18 – First: Zachary Bohn, 17, Acushnet, 11:24; First (tie): Ryan Stopka, 16, Rochester, 11:24; Third: Chris Carando, 16, Mattapoisett, 13:12.

Female 19 – 29 – First: Erin Dacey, 25, Dartmouth, 14:31; Second: Nora Stoelting, 19, Brooklyn, NY, 15:41; Third: Katelyn Sullivan, 26, Brooklyn, NY, 16:22.

Male 19 – 29 – First: Daniel Croteau, 22, Marion, 10:28; Second: Jared Dourdeville, 23, Acushnet, 10:37; Third: Rob Gammell, 19, Norwood, 10:53.

Female 30 – 39 – First: Inna Noble, 39, Marion, 15:01; Second: Laura Greeley, 30, Sleepy Hollow, NY, 15:04; Third: Kelly Bertrand, 35, Rochester, 16:14.

Male 30 – 39 – First: Nelson Sousa, 35, New Bedford, 12:47; Second: Keith Johnson, 38, New Bedford, 12:59; Third: Eric Hubert, 38, Taunton, 13:22.

Female 40 – 49 – First: Julie Craig, 45, Mattapoisett, 13:05; Second: Kelly Spring, 48, Wareham, 13:58; Third: Cindy Tilden, 44, Marion, 14:20.

Male 40 – 49 – First: Scott Anderson, 46, New Bedford, 10:32; Second: Sal Corrao, 40, Mattapoisett, 11:13; Third: Jeff Humphrey, 43, Miami, FL, 11:51.

Female 50 – 59 – First: Debra Holden, 56, Rochester, 16:52; Second: Nancy Demmer, 52, Rochester, 18:15; Third: Deborah Huckabee, 54, Acushnet, 18:31.

Male 50 – 59 – First: James Preisig, 53, Falmouth, 11:12; Second: Michael Florio, 51, Mattapoisett, 15:39; Third: David Stoelting, 53, Brooklyn, NY, 16:09.

Female 60 – 69 – First: Rachel McGourthy, 69, Mattapoisett, 21:22; Second: Teresa Dall, 65, Middleboro, 22:09; Third: Louise Paolello, 62, Wareham, 22:25.

Male 60 – 69 – First: James Lastowski, 60, Harmony, RI, 20:53.

Female 70 – 99 – First: Rose-Anne Concannon, 71, Marshfield Hills, 22:51.

Male 70 – 99 – First: Harry Harrison, 71, New Bedford, 19:21; Second: Jim Meckes, 73, Wareham, MA 26:17.

Kid’s Results

            Preschool: Olivia Sample, first; Emma Avitabile, second; Ryan Laramee, third. Other runners: Tate Laramee, Baylie Menard, Zach Mourao, Neva Matos, Novalee Andree, Lillian Gangi, Asa Schipper, Tara Battaglino, Brock Winslow, John Horan, Christopher Horan, Ethan Perry, Leah Bertrand, and Ella Ferguson.

            Kindergarten: (Boys) John Paul Lagunowich, first; John Butler, second; John Battaglino, third. (Girls) Lila Bangs, first; Tessa Winslow, second; Julia Carvalho, third. Other runners: Matt Kennefick, Dan Bertrand, Owen Weigel, William Gangi, Jack Rapoza, and Brenna O’Donnell.

           First Grade: (Boys) Harrison Hughes, first; Zach Santos, second; Sawyer Fox, third. (Girls) Julia Downey, first; Isabella Smith, second; Bianca Greco, third. Other runners: Trevor Stack, Finn Broderick, Ryan Silva, Dylan Hartley-Matteson, and Jed Dupre.

            Second Grade: (Boys) Lucas Morrell, first; Will Coleman, second; Sam Harris, third. (Girls) Emily Murphy, first; Sally Butler, second; Autumn Tilley, third. Other runners: Lucas Mello, Nate Bangs, Matt Quinlan, and Luke Lagunowich.

            Third Grade: (Boys) Ben Gowell, first; Zakary Sarkarati. (Girls) Julia Rood, first; Olivia Gowell, second; Megan Horan, third.

            Fourth Grade: (Boys) Brendan Stack, first; Brendan Nunes, second; Jameson Woodward, third. (Girls) Jackie Barrett, first; Anneliese Schipper, second.

            Fifth Grade: (Boys) Noah McIntyre, first; Noah Gowell, second. (Girls) Abby Horan, first; Dana Leroy, second; Maggie Arruda, third; Mia Quinlan, fourth.

            Sixth Grade: First place boy: Noah Schipper. First place girl: Caroline Murphy.

Old Rochester First Term Honor Roll

on

Old Rochester Regional High School announces the following first term honor roll students:

            Highest Honors – Grade 9: Jessica Fuller, Heather Nadeau, Austin Salkind, Bailey Truesdale. Grade 10: Madison Durr, John Hewitt, Kelly Merlo, Ruhi Raje, Renae Reints, Paige Santos, Michael Wyman. Grade 11: Colby Garstang, Emun Legesse, Marisa Parker, Grade 12: Megan Merlo, Maggie Pelletier, Rachael Reints.

            High Honors – Grade 9: Morgan Browning, Kara Cruz, Andrea Harris, Michael Kassabian, Andrew Kuhl, Ian MacLellan, Jordan Menard, Jentelle Rioux. Grade 10: Emily Audet, Michaela Bouvette, Cameron Brenner, Brianna Perry, Kaitlyn Sethares, Leah Thomas, Grade 11; Grady Branagan, Hailey Gallagher, Casey Garstang. Grade 12: Connor Bailey, Ashley Hall, Theodore Kassabian, Maegan Kiernan, Courtney McLeod, Jae Rouillier, Anne Smith, Michael Stellato, Matthew Vicino, Rachel Vincent, Jovana Zagorac.

            Honors – Grade 9: Jennifer Aguiar, Austin Alves, Michael Amato, Ryan Beatty, Abigail Bentz, Cameron Black, Michael Brown, Brittany Brzezinski, Stephen Burke, Danielle Cammarano, Mikayla Demanche, Brett Dineen, Benjamin Dion, Samuel Dorothy, Steven Durocher, Jaclyn Dyson, Nicole Gifford, Amanda Hiller, Sean Labbe, Gerald Lanagan Jr., James Leidhold, Ethan Lizotte, Mya Lunn, Lindsey MacMurdo, Samantha Malatesta, Laura McCoy, Kate McGraw, Victoria Medeiros, Matthew Miller, Benjamin Mimoso, Julia Nojeim, Darby Nolet, Ryan Noonan, Devyn O’Connor, Margaret O’Day, Trevor Oldham, Ashley Pacheco, Jonathan Perreira, Gwyneth Plante, Justin Resendes, Chloe Riley, Sarah Robertson, Zachary Rogers, August Russo, Peter Sands, Kyle Sherman, Riley Sherman, Amber Silva, Tyler Sjahfiedin, Sydney Swoish, Marie Sylvester, Angela Weigel, Madeleine West. Grade 10: Samantha Allaire, Evan Augustine, Michael Barrus, Emily Beaulieu, Jessica Belliveau, Nolan Bergeron, Nicholas Bergstein, Connor Blagden, Alexandra Campbell, Christopher Carando, Amanda Carreiro, Rachael Chandler, Bridget Costa, Morgan DaSilva, Christopher Demers, Jinhua Florindo, James Francis, Callie Gomes, Ian Hibbert, Emily Hyde, Todd Johnson, Rebecca Koerner, Nicolas Matsuo, Rebecca Myers, Meghan Pachico, Nancy Pope, Peter Poulin Jr., Anne Roseman, Andrew Ryan, Michaela Ryan, Tori Saltmarsh, Abigail Shroer, Olivia Silva, Hallie Talty, Alden Truesdale, Hannah Vieira, Anna Zartman, Tyler Zell. Grade 11: Taylor Aguiar, Melissa Bassett, Amanda Bergquist, Michael Bliss, Erika Boulay, Hannah Bouvette, Jessica Correia, Adam Costa, Edward Costa, Katelyn Cummings, Daniel Donohue, Quinn Donovan, Hayleigh Dumas, Michael Edwards Jr., Taylor Fien, Ashleigh Fortin, Karen Gonneville, Kelsey Good, Rose Haznar, Tyler Hunter, Rebecca Johnson, Evan Lacombe, Thomas Lavoie, Brenna Maloney, Zachary Mathews, Benjamin Mattson, Meghan McDonough, Callum McLaughlin, Conner Medeiros-Sweet, Breannon Meuse, Alexander Milde, Kristin Nascimento, Abigail Offringa, Chandra Perez-Gill, Garrett Peterson, Alexandra Pickering, Jacob Rioux, Alexandra Saccone, Katrina Santos, Alyssa Seifert, Tanner Studley, Christopher Tippins, Gregory Valentgas, Hannah Walsh, Lauren White, Katherine Wilbur. Grade 12: Hope Anderson, Rebecca Bastarache, Matthew Beatty, Mollie Beaulieu, Jessica Bettencourt, Laura Bichajian, Dennis Blais, Adam Bliss, Amanda Boardman, Kurt Correia, Madison Costa, Nicholas Cristaldi, Megan Daher, Sara DeMello, Blake DeSousa, Marissa Despres, Jami Durocher, David Everett, Cody Finnerty, Violet Foulk, David Friedman, Shannon Frink, Nathaniel Fuchs, Walker Fuchs, Kathryn Galavotti, Jamie Gallagher, Dylan Glavin, Gared Glavin, Stephanie Glidden, Christopher Hiralall, Catherine Holden, Nathan Houston, Jacob Jaskolka, Emily Koerner, Gabrielle Kondracki, India Krawczyk, Avery Langlois, Michael Lapre, Oliver Lizotte, Ian McLean, Alexander Moceri, Martha Nakashian, Lucas Parker, Mark Pinhancos, Sophie Pratt, Maxwell Risch, Chloe Robertson, Shayla Santos, Maxwell Sherman, Johnathan Simcoe, Abbey Smith, Kyla Soares, Lauren Sylvia, Jonathan Zucco.

Rochester Youth Baseball Registration

on

Rochester Youth Baseball (RYB) has opened registration for its Spring 2012 season. Players may register online via its website (www.RochesterYouthBaseball.com), via mail and in-person. An Information/Registration Night will be held on Monday, December 12 from 6:00 to 7:00 pm at Re-Max offices at 140 Wareham Road, Marion (on the corner of Route 6 and Point Road).

RYB accepts all children who are 4.5 through 12 years old on April 30, 2012. RYB is opening its borders for the first time to accept players outside of the town’s borders.

Any player 8-12 years old who registers by December 31 will receive free entrance into RYB’s Winter Baseball Academy, which is led by pro ballplayer Mike Torres. The Academy will instruct not only on baseball skills but also conditioning.

RYB’s divisions are: Major League for players 9 to 12 years old; Minor League for players 8 to 11 years old; Farm League for players 6 to 8 years old; T-Ball for players 4.5 to 6 years old.

There is further information available on the RYB website and on its Facebook page. If you have a question, email RYB President Hal Rood at halrood@gmail.com.

Rochester Republican Committee

on

The Rochester Republican Town Committee will meet at the Ponderosa on Route 105 in Acushnet on Saturday December 10 at 4:30 pm. The public is welcome. For more information, call Fred Underhill, 508-763-5001.

Mattapoisett Women’s Club

on

MWC’s Great Decisions Foreign Policy discussions begin January 25, 2012. The popular revolts and upheaval of the Arab Spring have radically changed the face of the Middle East. Come find out what lies ahead for the Middle East’s transition to democracy as the Mattapoisett Women’s Club offers the highly popular and thought provoking Great Decisions civic-education program of the Foreign Policy Association.

For discussions, the group will use the Great Decisions briefing book, which highlights eight of the most thought-provoking foreign policy challenges facing Americans today. The publication provides background information, current data, and policy options for each of the eight issues and serves as the focal text for our discussions. Topics for 2012 include: Middle East realignment, Promoting democracy, Mexico, Cyber-security, Exit from Afghanistan and Iraq, State of the Oceans, Indonesia, and Energy geopolitics.

Great Decisions meets once a week on Wednesdays for eight consecutive weeks from 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm beginning January 25, 2012 in the lower meeting room of the Mattapoisett Free Public Library. The expected ending date is March 14. A snow date would extend the meetings to March 21.

Cost for the Foreign Policy Association publication providing background information on discussion topics is $28. The fee includes refreshments. Please make checks payable to: Ellen P. Flynn and mail checks to Ellen P. Flynn, P.O. Box 1312, Mattapoisett, MA 02739 by Monday, December 19, 2011. For more information contact co-chairs: Ellen P. Flynn at 508-758-1312 or Eileen Marum at 508-758-9751.

Marion Art Center News

on

• Ice Sculptor – On Saturday, December 10, Timothy Wade, local sand and ice sculptor and painter, will give an ice carving demonstration starting at 10:00 am in Bicentennial Park across from the Art Center. Visitors are invited to come and watch as he transforms blocks of ice into beautiful sculpture, take a few pictures with the finished product, or stop by on their way along the Sippican Women’s Club House Tour.

The Bicentennial Park is located at the corner of Spring and Main Streets in Marion. For more information call 508-748-1266.

Mattapoisett Tax Collector News

on

The Town of Mattapoisett is pleased to offer the option of paying for water/sewer bills and property and excise taxes with a credit card at the Collector’s Office counter. The new credit card reader service is being offered in conjunction with the Town’s third-party vendor for online eBill payment services. Bill payers who use the new secure in-office credit card swiper service will be charged a convenience fee of approximately three percent of the total bill, and will be informed of the exact amount before the transaction is completed. The “Swiper” can be used for paying with Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover credit cards. The Town is looking to expand this service, as well as the online bill payment service, to include other town departmental bills in the future.

Free Vascular Screening

on

Southcoast Hospitals Group announces free vascular screenings during the month of December.

Regular vascular screenings can detect peripheral artery disease, or PAD, a potentially serious circulatory problem. The non-invasive screenings are performed by a trained nurse and take approximately 20 minutes. Patients should arrive 15 minutes prior to screening time.

The free vascular screenings are open to both men and women. Appointments are required and can be requested by calling the numbers listed below. Space is limited and appointments will be scheduled on a first come, first serve basis. No walk-ins will be accepted on screening days.

The screening details are as follows:

• Southcoast Centers for Cancer Care, 206 Mill Road, Fairhaven on Thursday, December 1. Appointments will be scheduled between 8:30 am and 4:00 pm.

• Southcoast Health System at Rosebrook, 100 Rosebrook Way, Wareham on Monday, December 5. Appointments will be scheduled between 8:30 am and 4 pm.

• Taber Mills Apartments, 217 Dean Street, New Bedford, on Thursday, December 8. Appointments will be scheduled between 9:00 am and 3:00 pm.

• Southcoast Center for Women’s Health, 300B Faunce Corner Road, Dartmouth, on Wednesday, December 14. Appointments will be scheduled between 9:00 am and 3:00 pm.

• Seekonk Human Services, 320 Pleasant Street, Seekonk, on Wednesday, December 21. Appointments will be scheduled between 9:00 am and 3:00 pm.

• Greater New Bedford Community Health Center, 874 Purchase Street, New Bedford on Thursday, December 22. Appointments will be scheduled between 9:00 am and 3:00 pm.

• Southcoast Center for Women’s Health, 300B Faunce Corner Road, Dartmouth, on Wednesday, December 28. Appointments will be scheduled between 9:00 am and 3:00 pm.

• Southcoast Centers for Cancer Care, 206 Mill Road, Fairhaven on Thursday, December 29. Appointments will be scheduled between 8:30 am and 4:00 pm.

Southcoast offers a full range of endovascular services to both diagnose and treat vascular disease. The hospitals offer the very latest technology – including minimally invasive procedures – along with the expertise of highly trained surgeons, interventional radiologists and staff nurses and technologists. St. Luke’s and Charlton hospitals also have new state-of-the-art endovascular suites. Please call 508-999-6400 to schedule an appointment.

CVS Presents Preliminary Plan

on

At a November 21 meeting, representatives for CVS developers approached the Mattapoisett Planning Board for an informal discussion on how they could proceed with developing a pharmacy on the corner of Route 6 and North Street.

Paul Beck of Gershman, Brow, and Crowley, a “preferred developer” for CVS corporation, came before the board to present the preliminary plans for feedback. The plans showed the 13,000 square foot building flush against the corner of the busy intersection. The removal of buildings, including an apartment building on the corner of the intersection and the former location of the Seaport Coffee shop would be required, but the current owner of the lot – resident Wayne Walega – said that the post office location would remain, despite the planned removal of the mailboxes. The plan included 65 parking spaces.

“A drive thru is very important to CVS for the elderly or the sick,” said Mr. Beck, who tried to determine if a drive-thru would be feasible at the proposed location.

“No drive-thrus,” said Chairman Thomas Tucker, who indicted that the location is in a special “village business” district, which is subject to even stricter bylaws than general business. “It’s a bylaw on the books. This board cannot approve the drive thru. It simply cannot.” Despite the bylaw, the board informed Mr. Beck that a variance for a drive-thru could only be obtained through the Board of Appeals.

“I’m really concerned looking at the layout of the building where it is. There’s no consideration for North St. That’s a huge concern for me,” said board member John Mathieu. “North Street is residential. What’s going to happen when we have a public meeting? The neighbors are going to be up in arms. You’ve stripped all this tree covering and you’re putting in all these driveways. I have a problem with dumping all this traffic onto North Street.”

“If you’re coming into Mattapoisett, this CVS building is the first thing you’re going to see. I can imagine the public hearings we’re going to see,” said board member Robert McNamara. “The problem I have is the traffic. You wait and see the people. You are picking a primo spot in Mattapoisett, and telling the people that they are going to triple the traffic there.”

The board said that the project would require a traffic study of the location, with Chairman Tucker stipulating that the study should occur in summer when the town’s population experiences a significant influx.

“We can’t just wait 8 months,” said Mr. Beck, who said that their engineers could take current data and estimate it summer traffic, and in turn, the town could peer review their traffic findings.

“With the traffic flow, I think it’s going to be a nightmare,” said board member Ron Merlo, indicating North Street and Mechanic Street entrances.

“We’ve got a CVS five miles west of here,” said board member Karen Field.

“Absolutely. And they are considering making a multi-million dollar investment because they think there is money to be made,” Mr. Beck responded.

The developer and Mr. Walega insisted that they could make the building something appealing and convenient for residents. Mr. Walega said that he wanted the design to “fit into the architectural feel of the town.” He used the Harwich, MA CVS location as an example of a building that fit into a village setting.

“It has the high roofline. It has dormers. It looks like it could be your next-door neighbors’ fairly large house. I didn’t want to have something come to Mattapoisett that was going to look bad or be a deterrent or give me a bad image. I had to satisfy myself that people wanted it and it would look good,” Mr. Walega said.

“My concern is that this has to fit in Mattapoisett,” said Mr. Mathieu. “The village district was created to prevent Mattapoisett from looking like Fairhaven.”

An informal straw poll of the planning board indicated that they wanted the plans to reflect a building moved away from the corner of North Street, would consider a reduced parking plan for the sake of landscaping and aesthetics, and wanted the North Street entrance removed from plan. The board again said that they could not comment on the drive-thru.

Mr. Beck said that he would work with developers to produce new plans that would reflect the planning board’s input, and would specify details regarding landscaping, signage and color schematics. A revised plan will be presented to the board at an upcoming meeting, he said.

Because no formal plans have been drafted, the abutters have not yet been notified, said Mr. Beck.

By Anne O. Kakley