The rededication of the witness tree located at the Dexter Tub Mill Park on Route 6 took place on Sunday, June 14. The Mattapoisett Land Trust has installed a new historical sign, indicating the importance of the location to the town’s history as well as the tree itself.

            The celebrations on this day included comments from Bobby Gaspar, the chairman of the 250th committee, as well as comments from MLT president Mike Huguenin. Also on hand for the event was the director of the Mattapoisett History Museum, Connor Gaudet, who gave a brief historical viewpoint of what a witness tree meant in bygone years. Select Board member Frances Kearns spoke to Flag Day concurrently taking place as did Select Board member Nicole Lynch.

            State Representative Mark Sylvia spoke to Mattapoisett’s participation in various historical events of the past, not the least of which was the Revolutionary War. Upcoming events for the town’s 250th celebration will include field of flags installation at Dunseith Gardens, a community picnic on July 3 at Ned’s Point, a Happy Birthday celebration at Center School with tours of the original center of Mattapoisett and various places of interest from the 1700s. The museum will also be open so the public can view the latest installment.

            Former members of the Fire Department will share their Mattapoisett firefighter’s memories in which the former call for firefighters will gather on Thursday, July 2, at 2:00 pm at the corner of Church  and Baptist streets and tell stories about working to protect the town and its citizens.

            Then, last but not least, a Dancing event will take place on the wharf at 6:30 pm with booting and scooting line dancing with Sarah T.

By Marilou Newell

            Nothing speaks summer so perfectly as a lush green lawn. It’s the mainstay of recreation, an essential to games like croquet, badminton and golf. The sweet smell of fresh-cut grass has the power to transport us back to our childhood days of playing “red rover” or “hide and seek.” A lawn mower’s hum somehow reassures us that summer is here and we can go on playing.

            But surely as those endless summers of childhood slip away, the lawn is less and less about carefree fun and more about detail work and regular maintenance. For those whose job it is to keep up with the trimming, not to mention the watering and feeding, the romance may be over before the fleeting summer season.

            When our eldest was a teenager working at the Oxford Creamery, he looked for ways to earn a little extra money and took on some lawn-care work. Over time, he had several customers and was even entrusted with caring for a newly installed landscape, including overseeing its watering schedule in addition to mowing lawns. It seems that this early immersion – along with the many chores he handled at home – served him well. Now in his thirties, Tristan finds great satisfaction in gardening and spending time outdoors.

            I sometimes wonder whether teenagers still mow lawns for spending money the way they did when I was growing up. According to my high school students, the answer is yes. One young entrepreneur told me he earns $16 an hour and takes home roughly $300 a week. For another former student, mowing lawns became much more than a summer job. His small venture blossomed into a full-fledged lawn-care business, with his client base tripling in a single year to nearly 75 customers and a growing menu of services.

            Their stories brought back memories of my own experiences. As a child, I was usually assigned indoor chores like dusting furniture while my brothers had the more coveted outdoor work – namely, mowing the lawn. It wasn’t until my teenage years that I finally got a turn behind the mower, and I took to it immediately. I can still remember being happy to earn a few dollars for the effort. Over the years, mowing has remained one of those surprisingly satisfying tasks. There’s something appealing about being in charge of your own little patch of land, and few chores offer such an immediate sense of accomplishment. By the time the last row is cut, the results are there for everyone to see.

            Beyond the obvious financial rewards of lawn service, there are those of us who appreciate the benefits. Cutting grass is a physical workout. A regular date with your mower will improve your muscles. If you have a bag attachment that collects the cut grass, there’s plenty of lifting, bending and stretching going on, in addition to the muscle power required to push the machine. Going at a good clip will improve your cardiovascular system.

            Lawn mowing is spiritually invigorating, as well … feeling at one with nature … making your surroundings more desirable … taking your mind off heavier matters as you feel the machinery at work. It’s good therapy, cheap.

            Don’t discount the creative aspects. There is more than one way to cut grass. High, low, in laps, on the diagonal, crisscrossed. You can fuss over it like the most sublime English bowling green or you can allow things to grow, like dandelions and wildflowers. It’s a simple matter of preference. I love clover and even the occasional wildflowers that meander through the lawn. The bees seem to appreciate it as much as I do.

            And there’s something for everyone in how you choose to do it. For those more environmentally conscious, manual-push mowers offer a quieter, low-impact alternative – much like the one my grandmother used, which was also the first mower I ever handled. In fact, we still have one today. It was a Father’s Day gift for my husband a few years ago, and it remains both a practical tool and a nostalgic reminder that simple designs can still work beautifully.

            For those who want cutting-edge equipment, there are choices of engines, power output and improved ergonomics, along with the bells and whistles of mulching attachments and self-cleaning features. Speaking of mulching, it’s a good way to go, says my brother who has the most perfect lawn I have ever seen.

            Mowing the lawn is a pleasure because, once you’ve memorized the locations of every protruding rock and stubborn tree root, the task becomes almost second nature. The work is rhythmic and primal and the rewards are immediate: a neat, freshly cut lawn where moments before there was disorder. Best of all, seven days after it’s cut, you can repeat it all over!

            The grass is greener where you water it! – Mel Robbins

The Seaside Gardener

By Laura McLean