UCT Banner Night

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Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School is excited to announce that our student athletes have achieved remarkable success this year with the golf team, boys’ soccer team and the girls’ basketball team all achieving the title of Mayflower League Champions.

            To celebrate this outstanding accomplishment, UCT will be hosting a special banner reveal during the halftime of the Boys’ Varsity Basketball game this Friday, February 9 at 6:30 pm in the Upper Cape Tech gymnasium.

            We invite parents, students, faculty and the entire community to join us in celebrating the success of our athletes and to cheer on the Boys’ Varsity Basketball team as they take on Diman Regional Tech.

Upcoming Events at the Elizabeth Taber Library

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Drop in for treats and crafts and meet some new titles at our Blind Date with a Book Event, Tuesday through Thursday, February 13 to 15. Explore our diverse collection showcasing a wide range of authors and genres, you might just fall in love.

            Join us to celebrate Black History Month at the Elizabeth Taber Library. All month long check out new releases, displays, programs, giveaways and more.

            Storytimes for all ages are held on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 10:30 am.

            For more information on the Elizabeth Taber Library, visit us at www.ElizabethTaberLibrary.org or call us at 508-748-1252

Highway Department Upgrades to Begin

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The February 5 meeting of the Mattapoisett Select Board found architect Stephen Kelleher and Highway Surveyor Garrett Bauer getting what they have long striven to receive – approval to move forward with Phase 1 planning for the highway barn renovations.

            As noted in the approved architectural agreement, the scope of Kelleher’s work on various phases includes adding an additional garage storage area of 1,600 square feet, interior alterations, sound insulation, and an HVAC system in the remodeled office/breakroom spaces. There is also planned drainage for some flooring areas, and 14×14-foot overhead doors.

            Further noted is that the total project will be performed in three phases with Phase 1 including floor drains and exhaust remediation. Phase 2 includes interior remodeling, new office, new breakroom and new handicapped-accessible toilet room. Phase 3 scope of work plans for a 2,040 square-foot addition.

            Town Administrator Mike Lorenco stated in a follow-up that the total cost for the entire three-phase construction project is $3,300,000 but may change over time. Kelleher’s fee is pegged at $28,535 for Phase 1.

            Jumping topics in the agenda, the board announced the selection of Kevin Greiner as the new building commissioner. Greiner is currently the building inspector for the Town of Easton.

            Back to budgets: Mattapoisett Police Chief Jason King presented a nearly level FY25 budget with wages in the draft coming in at $2,500,000 and ambulance wages at $409,000.

            In his narrative, King noted that in 2023 the Mattapoisett Police Department responded to 8,174 calls for service and 871 calls for the ambulance service. He said that no new cruisers are needed in the next fiscal cycle but that the FY26 Capital Expense plan requests two cruisers at an estimated $65,000 each. Also listed on the Capital Plan for the Police Department is $310,000 for a solar-voltaic charging station in FY27 and $50,000 to repoint the station.

            Fire Chief Andrew Murray also came before the Select Board with the department’s draft budget. Wages listed are $770,425 with another $190,600 for various equipment.

            Harbormaster Isaac Perry came before the board with no surprises. He did share that recent flooding has damaged electrical systems on Long and Middle wharves, which will be repaired before the boating season begins. Cost estimates were not offered.

            Wages for the Enterprise Fund will total $157,500.

            Perry said that motors for the pump-out boat need replacement and are listed as capital expenses amounting to approximately an $18,000 grant from Massachusetts Department of Marine Fisheries. Beginning in the fall, Perry said docks and floats will need replacement.

            The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Select Board is planned for Monday, February 12, at 5:30 pm.

Mattapoisett Select Board

By Marilou Newell

Author Inspires Children’s Ideas

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            Katie Mazeika is a children’s book author and illustrator whose ability to connect with young children was on full display at the Mattapoisett Free Public Library on January 31. Mazeika debuted her latest release, “Beulah Has a Hunch.” But this is no ordinary children’s book – this is the story of a real person named Beulah Louise Henry (a descendant of Patrick Henry), whose brilliant mind could not and would not be tamped down to conform with social norms of the 1800s. Beulah was too unique for that.

            Leading up to speaking to the wiggly kids, Mazeika (a mother) told them Beulah’s story, how she would come up with inventions and how her brain worked differently than other people. Beulah possessed hyperphantasia, the ability to see things in complete detail. But that wasn’t all, Beulah also had synesthesia, seeing color in words; numbers and sounds contained colors that she could see.

            Over time, her parents came to accept their daughter was different and her desire and need to come up with inventions. One of the inventions was a telescoping umbrella handle. There would be over her lifetime some 49 inventions. Beulah would create voice boxes for dolls, dolls with eyes that opened and closed, and even a self-basting oven.

            We caught up with Mazeika between meetings and traveled to hear first-hand why she has chosen historical female figures for some of her books.

            “I would say my mother! She has always been such a force and inspiration to never let expectations define me,” said Mazeika. “My mother is one of countless women who are powerful, smart and strong. It’s important for young girls to know those stories. Introducing readers to female role models has always been my goal!”

            Mazeika said she has faced the same challenges all writers do (i.e. rejection), but during those “little disheartening” episodes she said she found her voice. And writing of any kind is a labor of love; the illustrations alone for Beulah took six months.

            And Mazeika’s challenges in life will be told in her next book, “Maybe Just Ask Me.”

            “It comes out next fall. It’s my first fiction book as an author and illustrator,” said Mazeika. “The story is based on my childhood. I had cancer as a toddler and lost my right eye. After that surgery, I spent extensive time in and out of hospitals.

            “The book follows six-year-old me into a new school. I had no hair and wore an eyepatch. Naturally, the other students were very curious! In the book, the other students innocently make wild assumptions about why the new kid wears a headscarf and eyepatch: Was she in the circus or attacked by pirates? She grows increasingly frustrated because she just wants to make friends and eventually tells them to, “maybe just ask me.”

            Mazeika spent time showing tiny, fledgling illustrators how to find their voices by imagining their own inventions and then drawing them out. One of their combined efforts became a drawing of a scooter, one tricked out with a motor to go fast and a freezer for ice cream. Who wouldn’t want one of those!

By Marilou Newell

Mattapoisett Street Tree Removals

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The Mattapoisett Tree Committee voted at their January meeting to hold a public presentation about the impact of the proposed Main Street/Water Street/Beacon Street/Marion Road project for the street trees on these roads. Residents who would like to hear more about how our scenic roads will be impacted should plan on attending the meeting which will be held February 28 at 6 pm at the Fire Station training room. There is a Friends of Mattapoisett Trees Facebook group where links to proposed plans, letters and articles are being posted. Please join.

Mattapoisett Republican Party Meeting

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The Mattapoisett Republican Party welcomes all to join us on Thursday, February 22 from 6 to 8:00 pm for our monthly scheduled meeting.  Be a part of the discussion on local initiatives, support of candidates in future elections and share ideas with like-minded neighbors.

            Guest Speaker begins at 7 pm. The topics to be discussed: Updates on the District Attorney Office, Crime Stats, Impact on new gun restrictions and Immigration impact.

            Join us at the Knights of Columbus, 57 Fairhaven Road, Mattapoisett.  There is always good food, good people and a cash bar.   For additional information contact Paul Criscuolo, Chairperson, Mattapoisett Republican Town Committee. Email:  PCMattyGOP@proton.me.

Marion’s Landfill Solar Energy Project

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To the Editor;

            The article on Marion’s landfill solar energy “ project “ seems a good example of why our country is lagging so far behind more enlightened European countries in moving from fossil fuel to renewable energy.

            So many meetings, so much talk, so little action from government in all its shapes and sizes and from the fossil fuel centric energy sector … around and around we go.

            In 2003, twenty years ago, we met with folks from Samso Island in Denmark, a town about the same size as Marion. In 1998, with much support and help from the Danish government and private sector, they formed citizen based Samso Energy Company to make their town 100% renewable energy. In the first five years they were all on their way. Sure there were bumps and hiccups, however the whole country was pulling in the same direction and after just ten years they reached 100% net balance of renewable energy. They had built ten wind turbines, four biomass plants and several solar farms in and around their town in that time. Amazing.

What a success story for the environment not to mention the millions of dollars in savings for Samson’s residents.

            And here we are twenty years later, despite the terrific efforts from folks like Bill Saltonstall, Jennifer Francis and others, basically still in the starting blocks in the race to beat global warming.

            It isn’t rocket science, we know how and what to do, just take a good look at Samso Island.

Lee Hayes, Marion

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. All letters must be typed and submitted directly to: news@wanderer.com.

Fire, Highway Get ARPA Boost

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            The Rochester Select Board began its Monday meeting by spending over $135,000 of the town’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds on the Fire and Highway departments.

            The board approved Fire Chief Scott Weigel’s request for $95,150 for 15 new mobile radios and 40 new portable radios and Highway Surveyor Jeffrey Eldridge’s request for $12,240 for eight new mobile radios.

            The board then agreed to give an additional $28,223 in ARPA funds to the Highway Department’s plan to relocate its radio repeater station, the automated station that extends the range of the town’s public-safety communications.

            Weigel explained the departments are working on finding and contracting a new location, possibly on High Street, with possibly new equipment. But the department needs the Select Board’s endorsement now to save time.

            Next, the board stayed with the public safety departments by approving Police Chief Robert Small’s recommendation to appoint Andrew Mattos as the department’s new full-time patrol officer. Department Lieutenant Donald Kemmett explained Mattos is a New Bedford Police dispatcher and a former Military Police in the Armed Services.  He is a strong candidate for our department,” Kemmett said, “and he will make a good officer for the Town of Rochester.”

            The board then turned to approving the routes of two road races through town. The Annual Patriot Half-Marathon will use town roads on June 15, and the Annual Cranberry Tri-fest triathlon will come through town on August 25.

            In other business, the board learned the Conservation Commission remains unsatisfied with the response from Mattapoisett officials regarding concern over the town’s rights to the water on Red Brick Farm East land. The property is part of a 241-acre, regional Conservation Restriction giving Rochester no rights to the groundwater that Red Brick Farm East might produce.

            The latest letter from Mattapoisett in response to Rochester’s concerns was from that town’s water board, commission members told the Select Board on Monday, and it did nothing to answer those concerns. It repeated Mattapoisett’s previous promise to “make every effort” to resolve the issue. On Monday, Conservation Commission Chairman Chris Gerrior asked the Select Board, “What kind of solution can we come to? For them to say that what Rochester wants is ‘hard to do’ is unacceptable.”

            Select Board member Adam Murphy said the ConCom should start by responding via written correspondence to Mattapoisett’s letter and then see Mattapoisett’s response to that. “We’d like to see a solid ‘no;’ see their obligation they’ll take on.”

            “We can move on from that,” Select Board Chairman Paul Ciaburri said. ConCom members agreed to take that step first.

            In other action, the Select Board voted to decline the town’s Right of First Refusal to purchase 9 acres at 0 Featherbed Lane, property being taken out of Chapter 61A agricultural land, tax-related protections.

            The board accepted a $400 donation from the Annie Maxim House Residents Association.

            The board followed Select Board member Brad Morse’s recommendation to schedule an executive session to discuss missing details of the town administrator’s job description and what will the town do if the state attorney general does not approve the home-rule petition approved at the January Special Town Meeting to extend the fire chief’s employment beyond his retirement age. That session will be held following the February 20 Select Board meeting.

            Cannon noted that Direct Energy, which operates the town’s new Energy Aggregate Agreement contract, has included customers in town who had actually opted out of the town’s energy provider. He said Direct Energy is working to resolve the problem. For more assistance, residents should call 1-857-557-4943 or the DPU at 617-737-2836.

            The Select Board set its next meeting for Tuesday, February 20, at 6:00 pm at the Rochester Senior Center, 67 Dexter Lane.

Rochester Select Board

By Michael J. DeCicco

Lee, Kanaly Pace Pinewood Racers

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The Rochester Club Scouts hosted a Pinewood Derby on February 3 at Rochester Memorial School involving competition with Packs 30 and 31 and Marion Pack 32.

            Bryan Lee, with car #9 The Black Cat, finished the run in 2.3737 seconds, a simulated 208.24 miles per hour for first place among Rochester Pack 30 competitors.

            Finishing in second place for Pack 30 was Georgia Duggan, whose unnamed #7 car finished in 2.4042 seconds (205.60 miles per hour.) Taking third place was Ben Smart, whose #19 car The Lucky 13 finished in 2.4058 seconds (205.47.) In fourth place was William Boucher, whose #3 The Creeper finished in 2.4078 seconds (205.30.) Taking fifth place was Mason Rivera, whose #13 Ferrari finished in 2.4108 seconds (205.05), and taking sixth place was Jonas Duggan, whose #6 The Destroyer finished in 2.4120 seconds (204.94.)

            Marion Pack 32 was led by Henry Kanaly, whose #28 car Jammin Giraffe finished the race in 2.3693 seconds, a simulated 208.64 miles per hour.

            Taking second place for Pack 32 was Jack LeFavor, whose #30 car Fishy Attack finished in 2.3853 seconds (207.24 miles per hour.). In third place was James Whipple, whose #33 Blue Racer finished in 2.3965 seconds (206.27.) Taking fourth was Will Kanaly, driving #27 Loco Lego Limo to a 2.4143-second finish (204.75.) Taking fifth was Charles Whinnem, whose #32 The Golden Eagle finished in 2.4378 seconds (202.78), and taking sixth was Emmet Luiz, whose #31 Flame Burner crossed the line in 2.4685 seconds (200.25.)

By Mick Colageo

Tri-County Symphonic Band

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On Sunday, February 11 at 3:00 pm, the Tri-County Symphonic Band, under the direction of Philip Sanborn, will offer a salute to the office of the President of the United States titled “A Presidential Portrait.” What better way to celebrate a truly American weekend with a pre-Super Bowl concert featuring such iconic symphonic band classics as William Schuman’s “George Washington Bridge”, Charles Ives’ “Variations on ‘America'” and Aaron Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait.” A special guest appearance by Massachusetts State Senator Michael Rodrigues will cap off the concert, as he is the featured narrator on “Lincoln Portrait.” Other selections on the program include “The President’s March” by Victor Herbert, “On Shoulders of Giants” by Andrew David Perkins, “Armed Forces Salute” by Bob Lowden and three pieces by John Philip Sousa: “Presidential Polonaise”, “President Garfield’s Inauguration March” and “The Stars and Stripes Forever.”

            The concert will be held at the Our Lady of Light Band Banquet Hall, 664 Quarry Street, Fall River. Adult tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door. Children aged 12 and under admitted free. Tickets may be purchased in advance at The Symphony Music Shop in Dartmouth, The Marion General Store in Marion or online at tricountysymphonicband.org

            Please visit tricountysymphonicband.org for more detailed information.