Although Rochester has managed to maintain its staff, service and programs for the past four years, an ever tightening budget due to rising education and health care costs may force the town to make tough decisions in 2012, Town Administrator Richard LaCamera said.

“This is going to be most challenging year the town has had in a long, long time,” he said, noting that these difficulties are shared among towns across the commonwealth.
He said education costs for Old Rochester Regional and Rochester Memorial School continue to pose problems in keeping the town’s balance sheet in order. The school is struggling with spikes in special education costs – and added utility costs associated with the RMS’s expansion also is putting more strain on the elementary school budget. The RMS budget subcommittee has been holding additional meetings recently to find ways to cope with these unplanned expenditures.

“We have not had any increases in state aid for four years, we are down 27 percent,” Mr. LaCamera said, noting that Governor Deval Patrick’s budget set for release this month will offer a clearer idea of what budgeting challenges are in store. “We just can’t sustain budgets without increases in state aid, when they non-funded budgets… The state is not fulfilling their requirements to fund special education costs and the school systems have to endure,” Mr. LaCamera said.

Health insurance costs for the town continue to rise while the budget fails to grow at a concurrent rate, he said. “In the last four years, increases in health insurance have been between 40 and 50 percent,” he said. Currently employees contribute 50 percent towards their health care costs.

Mr. LaCamera said he has disseminated budget forms to department heads, which are due at the end of January after the governor’s budget is released, and will do his best to meet their needs in a tough environment. He said no staff has been added to any departments in the past four years – but maintaining the current staff will be difficult.

In addition to this, he said is working with department heads on a five-year plan to look at “what we can do and can’t do.”

To help offset costs, the town does regionalize services, in particular sharing some trash and recycling contracts with Mattapoisett and Marion. In addition, the town shares a Town Planner with Wareham, and its Building Inspector and Board of Health Director with other communities. “We have many part-time people,” Mr. LaCamera said.

Despite budgetary challenges, Mr. LaCamera said it is still important to think long term about upcoming needs the town faces.

One issue he plans to address is the need for a revamped town hall or use of a new building to house town officials. He said a plan to put an addition on the Town Hall was put forward eight or nine years ago – before he became Town Administrator – and now it has reached the point that the issue needs revisiting. Currently town services are administered at the Town Hall and Annex – but the lease on the latter building is set to expire in 2013.

“You find when you try to keep all staff, services and programs going, you get to the point that the Town Hall is the last thing to get addressed. I think it’s time to put a plan together in 2012, looking at the long term and short term to renovating existing facility, or looking at getting a new Town Hall on Dexter Lane near the Police Department.”

Mr. LaCamera said that in 2012, the town needs to look at its road maintenance plans. He said $750,000 is put aside every year for such a purpose – but with the cost of oil and asphalt prices – “it doesn’t go every far.” He estimates that $4 million of road work needs to be done in Rochester.

“It won’t happen in the next couple of years – but there has to be a plan,” he said.
In the meantime, Mr. LaCamera is gearing up for a tough financial year ahead.

“Our goal next year has been what we have done in the previous four years – try to maintain all the staff and services that we have… but it is going to be a major challenge,” he said.

By Laura Fedak Pedulli

Café Parlez, the fiction book club, which meets at the Joseph H. Plumb Library in Rochester the last Thursday of every month at 6:30 pm, is appropriately named – they talk (parlez) and they eat (café).

“I’d say once a year we’ll get a call from someone who wants to know if we are reading and discussing French books,” joked Jen Frasier, Library Assistant and coordinator of Café Parlez.

Fourteen people came last Thursday evening, with goodies, to discuss The Princess Bride, by William Goldman.

“How many of you didn’t read the book or didn’t finish it,” asked Ms. Frasier. Five people raised their hands and everyone burst into laughter. “I have a tough time with fantasy,” said Bunny Mogilnicki, “unicorns and talking animals… I can’t take that.”
Ms. Frasier asked how many had seen the popular movie and many raised their hands. The group sat around a table, where they placed their books and someone noted that all the covers of the book were different, both hardbacks and paperbacks.

Many in the group gushed about the book and used words like “classic” and “cult” to describe the story, which included wild beasts, a giant, a pirate, a six fingered villain and, of course, a princess and her true love. The group talked about their favorite characters, their names and how the story plays with our cultural perception of romantic love.

Ms. Frasier handed out a two-page guide of information on the book with discussion questions. At one point, the group discussed the library placement of the book under Young Adult. “Is this category appropriate… should it be under satire, adventure, romance or fantasy,” asked Ms. Frasier. Someone brought the October 2011 issue of Entertainment Weekly, which had a photo display of the actors who appeared in the 1987 movie, with then and now photos.

Deb Smith, who moved to Rochester from Northampton, last May, enjoyed the book club meeting. “This is my fourth time here and it’s a fun evening and a great way to meet new people,” said Ms. Smith.

The schedule for 2012 is available at the library and includes: Bel Canto, Room, Three Junes, A Visit from the Goon Squad, The Last Child, The Tiger’s Wife, Mrs. Kimble and The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.

The Plumb Library also has a non-fiction book group, run by Library Director, Gail Roberts, whose nickname is “the grand fromage’. They meet on the third Thursday of the month, at the library, at 6:30 pm. Several attendees belong to both clubs. Barbara Brown, from Marion, belongs to several area books clubs, including one organized by the First Congregational Church of Marion.

“The club gets people reading something they might not ordinarily read,” said Ms. Roberts, “It stretches their interests and it’s important to try different things.”
On January 19, the non fiction book club will discuss Two Guys Named Wes Moore, a nature vs. nurture book about two men, born in the same year who grew up only a few blocks apart and how their lives unfolded.

Ms. Roberts and Ms. Frasier decided to switch roles in March and Roberts will pick the fiction book and coordinate the meeting while Frasier will pick and run the non-fiction book club meeting. “We just wanted to mix it up a little,’ said Ms. Roberts.

Ms. Frasier has books available for anyone wishing to join in and distributes copies of Book Page, which lists book reviews of recently published books. Café Parlez is sponsored by the Friends of Plumb Library.

After a lively discussion about the book and the refreshments, the group was told about a yarn and pattern swop to be held at the library on January 21 between 2:00 and 4:00 pm. “Bring needles… there will be goodies too,” said Ms. Roberts.

By Joan Hartnett-Barry

Losing a loved one leaves a hole that never really goes away.

For survivors, gravestones may be the only place of solace to recall someone sorely missed. But the Mattapoisett Tree Committee has helped families and friends of loved ones find another way to honor and remember someone: a memorial planting.

A tree – which beautifies the environment and often outlives us – appeals to many as a way to honor someone’s memory. Like a gravestone, it is a physical place to recall a departed one – but it also bears the majesty of a living form that benefits everyone in the community and the environment itself.

“It is just a lovely way to have something living that is a spot where you can sit under a tree and contemplate the way the person touched you or the rest of your loved ones,” said Sandra Hering of the Mattapoisett Tree Committee, who arranges the plantings with families. The committee has been offering the plantings for years – and walks families through the steps of identifying a spot and appropriate breed of tree.

Anne Shepley is one person who recently had a tree planted in honor of her son – but that was not the original intention.

About thirty years ago, her 17-year old son, Jamie, was the victim of the unimaginable. On a whim, he decided to get a ride from a friend from soccer practice – but the driver missed a turn and the car rolled over. Although his friends were spared, the accident rendered him quadriplegic.

“It was one of those things that happened in a moment,” Ms. Shepley recalled of the incident that took place on September 25, 1978.

But her son Jamie was so moved by how the town rallied around him that he decided a few years ago that he wanted to plant a tree.

“He wanted to do something nice for Mattapoisett, they had been good to him when he had his accident. There were different people in the community taking care of him. People in the whole community – from church, clubs – all helped. It was a wonderful experience,” Ms. Shepley said.

However, in the summer of 2009, he passed away before his dream took root. The tree, a Pin Oak, eventually was planted at Center School – and it became his memorial tree.

“It was the perfect spot for Jamie’s tree,” she said. “But he wanted it for Mattapoisett, not for himself.”

Ms. Shepley said the fact he lived 30 years after the accident “is something unbelievable in a quadriplegic.” She said her family “is very, very pleased” with the tree now honoring him.

Mattapoisett residents, Caroline and Fred, also chose to plant a tree in honor of a son who passed away. When his unexpected death happened a year and a half ago, she learned about memorial plantings offered by the tree committee.

[Ms. Hering] responded with terrific sensitivity and compassion… I was very grateful, it would have a lot of meaning,” Caroline said.

After consultation with the tree committee, the family opted to plant a Hawthorn Tree at the town landing – where the family spent summers launching their small boat.

“There is significance for our family… it was what I was hoping for,” Caroline said.

With the pain of loss still strong, she said the newly planted tree would provide some measure of peace.

“Having that particular spot because of the circumstances that we had means a lot. I think it’s terrific, I really do. The whole [tree] committee is very sensitive and very caring and want to do things that are going to be in conjunction with your feelings,” she said.

Ms. Hering said that many families report that having a special memorial tree is “peaceful” for them.

She said the committee, which receives no funding from the town, charges families about $300 per tree – but that the process of choosing a tree is extensive. Each site must be thoroughly researched. For instance, sites near water may require a tree that handles salty soil and possible storm surges.

“We want to make sure it survives all of the elements so it will be there for a long time, for people to enjoy and understand why it is there,” Ms. Hering said.

She said some sites cannot be accommodated, in particular Ned’s Point is a difficult request, but that that committee does its best to suit the needs of the families.

In the meantime, the committee – which was established in 2003 – is working on compiling a full list of memorial trees, she said.

“We are really interested in preserving trees and expanding the tree canopy in Mattapoisett. Unfortunately we do lose trees every year. The trees do a wonderful thing, providing shade, providing cooling for homes and buildings,” Ms. Hering said of the committee’s greater purpose.

For more information on memorial plantings, contact Ms. Hering at Herring.sandra@gmail.com.

By Laura Fedak Pedulli

Photo by Laura Fedak Pedulli

On Saturday, December 17, nine members of the Nasketucket Bird Club led by Justin Barrett, Club President and Mike LaBossiere, Past President, scoured the marshes, woods, thickets and shoreline of Fairhaven during the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count. The count has been going on for over one hundred years and our club has participated since 2007.

According to Audubon, “the data collected by observers over the past century allow researchers, conservation biologists, and interested individuals to study the long-term health and status of bird populations across North America.” Although the numbers of birds and species seen may vary a lot from year to year depending on weather and the number of counters, the data collected over the long term is valuable.

The best birds of the day were two Razorbills seen close to shore off West Island. They are related to Puffins and usually spend their lives at sea. A Peregrine Falcon posed atop the mill on Angelica Rock and a disgruntled Great Horned Owl was woken up from its nap. Sixty-two species were identified.

The Nasketucket Bird Club meets most months at the Mattapoisett Public Library on Barstow Street at 7:00 pm on the fourth Thursday. Check the website at MassBird.org/Nasketucket/index.htm. Nasketucket members include birders from Mattapoisett, Wareham, Marion, Rochester, Fairhaven, Acushnet, and other area towns. The next meeting will be Thursday, January 26 when the group will discuss plans for programs, trips, and speakers. Everyone is welcome.

Photo courtesy of Carolyn Longworth