Upcoming Events at the Elizabeth Taber Library

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True Crime Book Club hosted by Jay Pateakos, Tuesday, October 11 at 6:30, The True Crime Book Club will be discussing Blood and Ink: The Scandalous Jazz Age Double Murder that Hooked America on True Crime by Joe Pompeo.

            Table Top Gaming Club, Saturday, October 15 at 11 am, Open to all players, all ages welcome. This month will feature the games, Smash Up and Pandemic.

            Tim Weisberg from Spookly SouthCoast visits the Elizabeth Taber Library on Thursday, October 27 at 6:30 pm for a thrilling and chilling program on local legends. Paranormal vortexes, ghosts, UFOs, cryptids and true crime in our own backyard!

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

Long Wharf Construction Costs Rise

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            In May 2022 the Mattapoisett Marine Advisory Board met and spent considerable time reviewing four options presented by Childs Engineering Corporation for repairs and reconstruction of the town’s historic Long Wharf.

            The wharf, also known as the Freddie Brownell wharf, was originally built in the 1800s. Time and tides, storms and use have taken their toll on whatever name you give to the wharf. For many years, the town has recognized the need to make repairs and improvements. Now it is preparing to find ways to control costs, while ensuring the refurbished wharf will also stand the test of time.

            Childs’ study of the wharf produced four options. Option 1 ($4,700,000) would consist of precast concrete with steel reinforcing modular block used to encapsulate the existing wharf; Option 2 would include using reinforced concrete wall installed in front of the existing wharf blocks to act as a retaining wall that would support the wharf and lock all blocks in place; Option 3 would use a steel sheet pile wall (Childs noted in the report, “The advantage of this option is that it is typically more cost-effective, the installation is less time consuming; however, it also has the least natural appearance.”); Option 4 would combine the use of concrete blocks and granite.

            During their September 29 meeting, the MAB again discussed the options while they awaited word from the Select Board as to the acceptability of a hybrid combination of construction styles that would give a more appealing outward appearance employing concrete and granite blocks. Harbormaster Jamie McIntosh reminded the group that Childs had also recommended preparing for sea-level rise in the coming years by constructing the wharf in a manner that it could be heightened at a later date. This combination conceptual plan, which as yet has not been fully scripted by Childs, has an estimated $10,700,000 price tag, MAB Chairman Carlos DeSousa stated.

            In attendance were two persons whose backgrounds in construction and in aggregate materials lent some gravity to the discussion. Both Brian Crowley and Leonard Sollitto offered cautionary notes, saying that construction materials must be carefully inspected to ensure quality is maintained throughout the construction, and that thorough preconstruction study of existing conditions is necessary to get a finished product worthy of the costs.

            The MAB also met with representatives of the Mattapoisett Boatyard to discuss waiving the necessity of removing mooring balls and placement of winter sticks. The August 19 boatyard fire is responsible for the lack of sticks for the coming winter season. Securing replacements has failed, as no supplier could be found. The board approved the request.

            McIntosh reported that shellfish seeding of Shining Tides Beach has taken place and that the area will be closed to fishing until at least September 2023 to allow for a spawning cycle. He also said that Chapter 91 waterways permitting has been received for dredging between wharfs where dinghies are placed but that the work was still pending a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers.

            The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Marine Advisory Board is scheduled for Thursday, October 27, at 7:00 pm.

Mattapoisett Marine Advisory Board

By Marilou Newell

Lewis among Many Women Watching over Seas

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New England Lighthouse history tells about brave and heroic women who risked their own lives to save others under dangerous conditions.

            Many of these women were substituting for the male members of their family. At the Matinicus Rock Light off the coast of Maine, the keeper was a political supporter of President Zachery Taylor. When he died, his job was given to his beloved wife Abbie Burgess. She had already gotten her trial as a keeper when trapped for a month while her husband was ashore to get provisions.

            Similarly, there were no less than 138 women keepers between the years 1828 and 1847, who got their jobs from husbands and fathers who died filling their hazardous assignment.

            Ida Lewis took over as lighthouse keeper in Newport, Rhode Island, when her father became ill. My illustration of her was partly drawn by my own daughter Elizabeth when she became enamored by my article about women who rose to the inherited challenge.

            Lewis took on the responsibility of moving her younger siblings back and forth to the mainland every day of the week. She was so heroic in this task that she was awarded a presidential citation and a personal visit to Newport from Ulysses S. Grant, making her the most famous keeper in American history. Her challenges had just begun for which she became even busier. In the next decade, passenger ferries, commercial and military movement from and to Fort Adams necessitated additional lighthouse support.

            A small stone tower was erected about 900 feet on the south side of the inner harbor, and Lewis had to row daily from shore to tend the light, until a one-room shanty was provided near the tower in case of a bad storm.

            Hundreds of visitors became aware of Lewis’ dedication, including Susan B. Anthony, who praised her in her national journal. And then in November of 1877, Ida saved three soldiers whose catboat rubbed into the rocks just to the west of her lighthouse; this episode resulted in her catching pneumonia that lasted on and off for the rest of her life.

            After her death, Newport Lighthouse crewmembers decorated her gravestone with the following inscription: “Here Lies the Grace Darling of Lime Rock Lighthouse Keeper Erected by Her Many Friends.”

            Today her Lighthouse has also been honored as the Newport Yacht Club. This choice of its nautical title is perhaps also a tribute to all the other women who similarly rose to the destiny of heroic challenge to become famous lighthouse keepers.

By George B. Emmons

From the Files of the Rochester Historical Society

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Watching the news coverage of Hurricane Ian made me reflect on hurricanes that have occurred in this area. The picture accompanying this article is of my grandparents’ barn on Snipatuit Road in Rochester after Hurricane Carol blew it down. My mother told the story of someone she knew whose husband had been sucked out of his car as he drove across the bridge between Marion and Rochester during the Hurricane of ’38. Having recently done a short presentation on the Wampanoags for an assisted living facility in Dartmouth, I went looking for any records of major storms faced by the Native Americans and later by the early residents of Rochester.

            In a book by Alice Austin Ryder titled “Lands of Sippican,” she recounted the legend that tells of the creation of the bay and harbor we know today which replaced the ancient river that had run through forested land. A terrifying storm surged up the river widening it, and the salt water killed the forest trees that were on its banks. In her book written in 1975, she says that roots can still be seen at Silver Shell Beach when the tide goes out. She writes, “The great river was called Pawkihchatt, and some men digging in a field three miles up from the head of the harbor have found where the tide used to come that tells the story of the inlet and the mouth of the lost river.”

            She also tells of the great storm of 1635 that blew down hundreds of thousands of trees in just six hours. The tide was said to have risen 20 feet along the coast. She wonders whether the Native Americans blamed this frightening storm on the recent arrival of English settlers to the area. As scary and devastating as today’s storms are, how much more so would be the historical ones that arrived with little prior warning.

By Connie Eshbach

Sippican Woman’s Club

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When they are in bloom, there is nothing that lifts the spirits more than a hydrangea shrub  or a vase of showy clusters of blue, white or pink hydrangeas.  Joan Harrison a Cape Cod resident will be at the Sippican Woman’s Club offering expert advice on the selection, planting and care of hydrangeas.  Joan will be at our first program meeting on Friday, October 14.  Our meeting begins at 12:30 pm with an array of finger foods, tea/coffee. Our business meeting starts at 1:00 pm and the Hydrangea presentation should start by 1:30 to 1:45 pm. 

            Joan Harrison, who has authored several books on hydrangeas, Hydrangeas: Cape Cod and the Islands, published in 2012; Heavenly Hydrangeas, A Practical Guide for the Home Gardener, published in 2013, and, more recently, Favorite Hydrangeas, The Cape Cod Hydrangeas Society, published in 2019 edited by Joan. Both Cape Cod Life and Nantucket Today have published articles by Joan. She was the first President of The Cape Cod Hydrangea Society which was founded in 2007, and subsequently, the society formed a partnership with Heritage Museums & Gardens in Sandwich where a display hydrangea garden has been established and is highlighted during the Cape-wide 10-day Hydrangea Festival held annually in early July. Joan has studied hydrangea for over 30 years, traveled to England, Wales, Belgium, France and Ireland to see firsthand hydrangeas abroad.

            In addition to answering our questions, Joan will suggest the best variety to select for local planting, when to plant in our area, how to plant, soil preparation, how to care for and maintain, how and when to prune, etc. See website: https://www.sippicanwomansclub.org

Joanne Marie Nye

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Joanne Marie Nye, 69, of Marion, died Monday, October 3, 2022 at Tobey Hospital in Wareham after a long illness. Joanne was a loving wife and best friend of Douglas A Nye for over 32 years.

            Born in Wareham, she was raised in Marion and attended Sippican Elementary and Old Rochester Regional High School. Joanne worked as a landscape architect. She enjoyed puzzle making and sudoku, but her greatest joy was spending time with her grandchildren who affectionately called her “Szaba”.

            Survivors include her husband Douglas A. Nye of Marion; her children, Christopher McCra of Marion, Robert McCra, Steven (McCra) Slater and his husband Sean Slater of E. Providence, RI, Angela Cathcart of Middleboro and Keith Cathcart of Norton; her mother, Adeline (Perry) Boys of Wareham; her siblings, Paul Boys, Carol Capps, David Boys, James Boys, and Robert Boys and Pam Sylvia both of Wareham; her grandchildren, Brandon Wilbur, McCayla Dupont and Destany Galary. She was predeceased by her father, the late Robert F. Boys.

            Services will be held at a later date.

Parents Seek Content Control

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            Three residents attending the September 29 public meeting of the Old Rochester Regional Joint School Committee/Superintendents Union #55 in person at the Media Room of the Junior High School participated in the Open Comment session.

            Addressing the high school’s library, the residents aired concerns about books available with “graphic behavior” and “sexual content,” though none of the speakers identified any specific book.

            One of those who spoke said that as community members, they should be included in approving or rejecting library books, “included but not limited to sexual education and sexual narratives, gender resources, gender narratives and political resources.” They suggested there be a committee for approving public library books where members of the community could be involved.

            “Say there is a student who says, ‘I’m having some difficulty with gender dysphoria.’ Is that a phone call? Is there a policy? How is that handled?” a resident asked the committee.

            Open Comment policy dictates that the committee hear from the public but does not respond to or interact with the topics introduced beyond facilitating and managing the session, which has rules for total duration and time for individual speakers given the floor.

            Updated substitute-teacher eligibility requirements and compensation rates were presented for the ongoing academic year in order to remain competitive in the current environment. Applicants must have a Bachelor’s Degree or comparable two years of study from an accredited college or university, as well as passing a CORI and National Fingerprint background check.

            Compensation rates are daily and vary depending on the specific role, starting at $100 for Instructional assistants, up to $140 for nurses. Cafeteria, clerical and custodial workers will be paid per hour at the Massachusetts minimum wage. Long-term substitutes, when pertaining to vacancies longer than 20 consecutive days in the same position, will have a separate pay rate and are eligible for full benefits after 60 consecutive days.

            After a unanimous vote to approve the pay rates, the committee moved on to the updated student discipline and dress code, with minimal updates to both.

            “The responsibility for the dress and appearance of the students will rest with individual students and parents/guardians,” read the statement posted on the committee website. “They have the right to determine how the student will dress, providing that attire is not destructive to school property, complies with requirements for health and safety and does not cause disorder or disruption.”

            The committee then discussed the updated, non-discrimination policies, including procedures for responding to harassment and retaliation, followed by the policies for equal-opportunity education, hiring and the School Choice policy.

            School Choice, a random selection of nonresident children seeking to fill a limited number of vacancies in the ORR student body, awards priority to students with siblings already enrolled. After a brief revision of language used in the document, which can also be found on the ORR Joint School Committee webpage, the document was approved.

            The administration presented a Strategic Plan Update for the 2022-23 school year, outlining goals.

            “As a reminder, we are in the final year of our approved strategic plan,” ORR Superintendent of Schools Mike Nelson began. “Certainly, since this plan’s adoption approximately four years ago, the pandemic has impacted our thinking from when we first started out and certainly our priorities. During the presentation tonight, the administrative group… will provide an overview of where we have been and where we are going. … We aim to inspire all students to think, to learn and to care.”

            A PowerPoint presentation shared on screen began with the chairperson of the 21st Century Learning Team, ORR Junior High Principal Silas Coellner, who welcomed the new members of the team before diving into the presentation.

            “If we provide all students with life and career skills… by integrating these skills into a rigorous and relevant curriculum and create a school-district environment that broadens our students’ leadership skills, understanding and appreciation of multiculturalism, diversity and global awareness by building relationships to establish a broader worldwide network, then we will have provided our Tri-Town students with 21st-century academic skills, strengthened their social and emotional competencies and prepared them to be engaged global citizens,” Coellner read.

            Strategic initiatives included core subjects, life and career skills, learning and innovation and technology. Coellner explained the expected outcomes from each category and how they are integrated into the curriculum, followed by a more in-depth breakdown. This included discussion of classroom and one-on-one devices such as display boards and laptops, as well as behavior-reporting systems and updated security measures, including cameras, alarms and ALICE (active-shooter response) training.

            The committee then opened the floor for nominations of this year’s chairperson. Sharon Hartley was nominated and reelected unanimously as union-side chair. Cristin Cowles was nominated for the position of vice chair and also elected unanimously.

            The committee moved into executive session, after which it returned only to adjourn.

            The next meeting of the Old Rochester Regional Joint School Committee/Superintendents Union #55 is scheduled for Thursday, January 19, 2023, in person at the Media Room of the Junior High School and accessible via Zoom.

ORR Joint School Committee/Superintendents Union #55

By Jack MC Staier

Awards Night a Time for Thanks

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Lifesaving is a heroic, often emotional and in the case of Rochester Fire Chief Scott Weigel, ironic event, considering he was the loved one in need of rescue on August 14.

            The September 28, Rochester Fire Department Awards ceremony held at Rochester Memorial School gave the chief a public opportunity to thank not only the team of first responders who saved his life during a critical cardiac event at his home but his wife Susan.

            Mrs. Weigel was the recipient of a Civilian Lifesaving Award for her part in getting her husband (and Rochester’s chief protector against such catastrophe) the help he needed to be alive today.

            A decade ago, Chief Weigel campaigned for the town to invest in a battery-operated CPR device that would ultimately save his own life this past summer. Citizens from the Tri-Towns learned about the device while recently training on CPR at the Rochester Senior Center.

            First responders recognized with Lifesaving awards for their roles in getting the chief to safety and recovery included: from the Rochester Fire Department, Deputy Chief Albert Weigel, Captain Jeffrey Weigel, Firefighter/EMT Andrew Weigel, Firefighter/Paramedic Michael Mentzer, Firefighter Harrison Harding, Paramedic Jessica Desroches; from the Rochester Police Department, Sergeant Alyson Rego, Patrolman Emmanuel Matias; from the Freetown FD, Deputy Chief Harrie Ashley and Captain Neal LaFleur and Registered Nurse Lindsay Harding.

            RFD Lieutenant Kevin Richard told the crowd that on May 17, Harrison and Lindsay Harding, EMT Sarah O’Connor and paramedic Jeffrey Brum were recognized by Southcoast Hospital Group with the Medical Director’s Service Award for Excellence in Prehospital Medical Care for their responsive actions to a cardiac arrest in February.

            ROCCC dispatchers Tyler Reardon and Joseph Farmer were recognized with 911 Lifesaving awards, Firefighter/EMT Tracy Eldridge and Paramedic Benjamin Garlington were presented with Certificates of Recognition, and Bradley Barrows received a Civilian Recognition award.

            Richard reported to the gathering that Barrows, who could not be present, had not been trained on CPR since Cub Scouts and, at age 32, relied on instructions from dispatchers.

            The following Rochester FD personnel were promoted: Lieutenant – Michael Amato, Steven Grenier, Daniel Ferreira, Andy Weigel and Robert Lafferiere; Captain – Walter Gonet and Kevin Richard; and Deputy Chief Jeffrey Eldridge.

            On a night when standing ovations were repeatedly warranted, one of the loudest ovations went to RFD Deputy Chief Ward Benner when he was recognized for his unmatched, 62-years length of service. Benner was among four RFD members with 50 or more years, joined by Glenn Lawrence (52 years), Robert Reed (60 years) and Arthur Benner (52 years.)

            Ward Benner, along with retired Chief Oren Robinson and Lieutenant Scott Chadwick (posthumously) were recognized with RFD Retired and Lifelong Member awards.

            Brian and Bruce Ouellette were honored for 45 years of service, while Chief Weigel, Deputy Chief Weigel, Paul Ciaburri and Raymond Coutu were honored for 40 years of service. Captain Jeffrey Eldridge, Lieutenant Walter Gonet and Firefighter/EMT Daniel Ferreira were honored for 35 years of service.

            Also honored for length of service: 30 years – James Holden and Robert Lafferiere; 25 years – Lieutenant Kevin Richard, Tracy Eldridge, Wendy Ashworth, Alex Wheeler and Steven Grenier; 20 years – Michael Amato, Harrison Harding, Stephen Bobrowiecki and Robert Lake.

            The event drew participation from the surrounding community, as David DeBest of the Lakeville FD and Brockton Firefighters Pipes and Drums provided music. Rochester FD and PD presented colors, and Alyssa Costa and Lily Lafountain sang the national anthem. State Department of Fire Safety retired Chaplin James Tilbe offered an invocation.

Rochester Fire Department

By Mick Colageo

Rochester Historical Society Activities

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The Historical Society got a good though wet start to their October events. We were at the Rochester Country Fair. We sold a map, sweatshirts and cookies and met some potential new members (after all, who wouldn’t want to join a group that’s willing to stand out in the rain to support another local group like the Fair.) We even won the Best Vendor Award (though it could have been the last vendor standing award.) We were happy to support the fair while we tested the waterproof ratings on our foul weather gear.

            Next event is our monthly meeting, October19 at 7:00 pm at the Rochester Historical Society Museum at 355 County Road. Just a note; our monthly meetings are always on the 3rd Wednesday of the month. For this month’s program, Howie Smith will regale us with the story of Josiah Smith who was a member of George Washington’s Honor Guard. And as always, the talk will be followed by delicious refreshments and good conversation.

            Circle the date, October 22, the opening of our new exhibit: Maps, Signs and Celebrations and a chance to tour the museum.  We will also be having our Cranberry Bake Sale. We will be selling fresh cranberries and all the Rochester items you missed out on at the fair. The exhibit will be open from 10-3.

Mattapoisett Republican Party Monthly Town Meeting

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The Mattapoisett Republican Party invites everyone interested to join us on Tuesday October 11 at 6:30 pm at the Mattapoisett Free Public Library, 7 Barstow Street..

            Topics for discussion are:  1) Party Membership – We are growing rapidly but we welcome new members. If interested, please attend or contact by email: chairmattyrep@gmail.com; 2) GOP State Activities; 3) Candidates for Republican Town Committee 2023 Officers and 4) Local Election activity.