Mattapoisett Library Artist Series

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The Mattapoisett Free Public Library Artist Series presents an exhibit by Nancy Mitchell entitled “Junk Journals and Paintings in Acrylic. View Mitchell’s work at the Mattapoisett Library between May 4 and May 30.” Mitchell’s exhibit includes junk journals, hand-created from scrap pieces of fabric, lace, paper, beads, vintage book pages colored with gel and more, as well as acrylic paintings. Fairhaven artist Mitchell started painting at the age of 50. Her first painting was from a kit purchased at a local store which was something she had never thought of trying before. Pleased with the results, she decided to take some night art classes from the Greater New Bedford Regional Technical Vocational School. Her teacher was extremely helpful to Mitchell’s quest to learn how to paint. Self-taught, Mitchell also creates junk journals, gaining inspiration by studying the craft online. Mitchell has shown her work and sold paintings and feels it’s a great way to explore one’s creativity while learning at learning at the same time. Mitchell hopes her work will inspire others to create their own art.

Marilyn J. (Parker) Urquhart

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Marilyn J. (Parker) Urquhart, 81, of Wareham, formerly of Marion, passed away on May 3, 2025, at St. Luke’s Hospital, New Bedford. She was the wife of Alexander G. Urquhart and the daughter of the late Benjamin and Gladys (Westgate) Parker.

            She was born in New Bedford and lived in Marion for most of her life before moving to Wareham 8 years ago. She graduated from Wareham High School and Bridgewater State University.

            Mrs. Urquhart worked as an Elementary School Teacher at Rochester Memorial School and later at the Hammond School in Wareham.

            She enjoyed photography, reading, cooking and “secret trips” to the casino. She loved gardening and growing hydrangeas. She was especially proud of her sons, Chip and Greg.

            Survivors include her husband, Alexander G. Urquhart; 2 sons, Alexander G. “Chip” Urquhart, Jr. and his wife, Kerri of Marion and Gregory D. Urquhart and his wife Anne of Marion; her twin sister, Marjorie Borsari of Marion; 5 grandchildren, Mathew, Brian, Alexandra, Colin, and Mason Urquhart; 2 great grandchildren, Bryce and Ashton Davis.

            Visiting hours are from 4 to 7 pm on Friday, May 9, 2025 at Chapman Funerals & Cremations – Wareham, 2599 Cranberry Hwy., Wareham. A graveside service will be held at 10:00 am on Saturday, May 10, 2025 at Old Landing Cemetery, Rte. 6 & Ryder’s Ln., Marion.

            In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Dana Farber Cancer Institute, P.O. Box 849168 Boston, MA 02284-9168 or to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place Memphis, TN 38105.

            For directions or to share a memory, visit: www.chapmanfuneral.com

Catherine “Kate” O’Toole Brown

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Catherine “Kate” O’Toole Brown passed away peacefully on April 16, 2025, at the age of 75, surrounded by her family. Her passing followed complications from open-heart surgery, the result of her lifelong struggle with type 1 diabetes.

            Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Kate was the beloved wife of Timothy “Tim” J. Brown for 54 years and the devoted mother of Elizabeth “Liz” Brown Tapper. She is survived by Tim, Liz, her son-in-law Jim Tapper, and her siblings: brother Chuck, and sisters Beth, Mary-Pat, and Maggie—and their families.

            Kate graduated with honors from Seton Hill College (BA), earned her master’s degree at Bridgewater State University (MA), and later received her Master of Library Science from the University of Illinois (MLS). A lifelong lover of children and books, she brought these passions together in a career as a librarian and educator, nurturing the curiosity and growth of thousands of young people.

            Kate was a gentle soul and a steady friend to many. Her leadership as President of the Mattapoisett Women’s Club brought her both challenge and joy, reflecting her enduring commitment to service, friendship, and community.

            In keeping with Kate’s wishes, family and friends will gather to celebrate her life with a Funeral Mass at St. Anthony’s Roman Catholic Church in Mattapoisett, MA on Saturday, May 17, at 10 am. Interment will be private.

            To honor Kate’s memory, donations may be made to Breakthrough T1D (formerly the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation: JDRF), or to Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA. As a heartfelt alternative, pick up your favorite book and read a story to whatever circle of children surrounds you—just as Kate would have loved.

The Seaside Gardener

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            Did you ever want to hug a tree? Or just sigh as you admired one?

From colossal sequoia to shapely bonsai, in summer’s finery or winter’s bareness, they make the spirit soar just standing there. The classical oak immortalized in John Constable’s paintings of English pastures; towering walls of ancient cypresses of the Mediterranean; pulsating tropical rainforest canopies; the bent birches of Robert Frost’s poem. I’ve had my share of close encounters of a tree kind.

            I well recall one of those encounters on a street corner in nearby Edgartown. Maybe you have seen it? The tree I speak of came all the way from China as a seedling in a pot. Captain Thomas Milton brought it to the Vineyard during the War of 1812. He decided to settle there, buying the land and building the South Water Street house that the tree now shades. This magnificent pagoda tree is the oldest of its kind on the continent. If you go to Edgartown, you will know it immediately. It’s the one that will leave you awestruck.

            As a child, I was fascinated with the legendary figure Johnny Appleseed. I think I took it quite literally that he was singly responsible for planting all the apple trees in North America. I came to marry a Johnny Appleseed of sorts. He’s consumed with the idea of growing fruit trees, having spent his youth raiding orchards throughout Yorkshire, England. As we’ve added more each year to our back yard, it has become apparent we now have our own little orchard. I must have known what was happening when we spent a hefty sum on an espaliered apple tree. “It bears four different kinds of apples,” my husband said, appealing to my innate practicality.

            My father can take some of the blame for my desire to accumulate trees of every variety. His gardening accomplishments are something of folkloric proportions. When he was a boy, he planted a twig that grew into a massive willow tree – a sort of natural candelabra under which the family relaxed for cookouts. Many a peaceful nap was incurred from its hypnotic tendrils moving in the breeze. To us children it was like a giant cathedral of seemingly infinite height and breadth that totally enveloped our summer visits at my grandmother’s. Years later, the tree had to be cut down as it was suffering from some incurable blight. It had grown to 15 feet in diameter! We were sad to see it go and my grandmother’s backyard never looked the same again. In more recent years and owing to that glorious memory, I planted a willow out back. As I look out from where I now sit, I know it was a good decision. And who knows? Maybe I’m creating memories for grandchildren.

            Over the years, my father has planted innumerable trees – blue spruce, Japanese maple, dogwood, crabapple, catalpa, ginkgo, birch, all sorts of fruit-bearing trees, and pines galore. You name it, he’s grown it, experimenting with grafting and pruning techniques as well as developing a time-saving fertilizing device.

            A while back we revisited our former home, where my parents planted their first gardens while rearing their three young children. Usually when you go back, things seem much smaller. This experience was the opposite. The place had the most magnificent trees, all of them planted by my father who’d bought the house on a blank lot, one of many in a subdivision built in the early 1960s. While clearing land for a new home, the one they presently live in, my father and relatives spent months removing trees. Fifty-five years later, he has replaced them in triplicate.

            Nowadays my Dad is a bona fide tree farmer – although he contends it’s just a hobby. He grows all kinds of trees on his eight acres, including each family member’s Christmas tree and special seedlings he orders from his suppliers. My mother used to say he talked to his trees – a way to decompress from his high stress job as construction manager. There is something to be said for tending plants and watching them grow.

            There have been stumbling blocks – from the deer that used his young concolor white fir saplings for antler rubbing posts to the scourge of gypsy moths. Another year it was the pesky beavers that dammed up the nearby pond, thus interrupting his water source for an irrigation system that feeds his fledgling forests.

            Last Friday marked Arbor Day – dedicated to trees and their preservation. In observation of it, you may want to plant a tree for yourself or another tree-worthy person. Meanwhile, I have the perfect spot for a prunus subhirtella! Maybe the old maxim is true – the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

            “Don’t get me wrong…I love trees! There should be more of them. When I use paper, I use both sides.” — Steve Coogan in the film Coffee and Cigarettes.

By Laura McLean

Memorial Day Celebration Announcements

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            As Rochester’s Events Committee reviewed the plan for its Memorial Day celebration Tuesday, it revealed the town is commemorating the holiday with an entire weekend of events.

            The Memorial Day ceremony is scheduled for Sunday, May 25, starting with speakers at Town Hall at noon and followed by a parade to the Council On Aging senior center (weather permitting). But that’s merely the centerpiece of the festivities. The day before, on Saturday, May 24, a Ham and Bean Supper has been scheduled at the COA from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. On Monday, May 25, a boat race from Grandma Hartley’s Pond will begin at 8:30 am.

            On Tuesday, the Events Committee ironed out details of the above centerpiece event and planned to craft a poster and a flyer advertising all three celebrations. To this end, Committee member Christopher Gerrior presented his first draft of the Memorial Day celebration program. He announced the Showstopper music group of young singers will sing a Patriotic Medley as the ceremony begins. State representative Mark Sylvia will participate with a speech. State Representative William Staus will attend but not speak. The Gettysburg Address will be recited by a junior at Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School, Cameron Makuch, who was chosen for the task by the Old Colony administration. A state proclamation commemorating Memorial Day will be read by a Rochester Junior High School student who is part of its Project 351 program. The Rochester Memorial School Band will perform. Refreshments will be donated by the Artisan Bakery in Rochester.

            The ceremony will begin in front of Town Hall, 1 Constitution Way. Following this portion of the event, a parade that will include a Fire Department Honor Guard and all ceremony attendees will march to the senior center, 67 Dexter Lane, then to the Civil War monument at Daggart Square.

            Committee Chair Sharon Hartley and board members agreed, however, that any plans for an outdoor parade would be abandoned if there is bad weather, and the ceremony would be moved to take place solely within the senior center. At the meeting’s conclusion, Gerrior said he will speak to the organizers of the supper and the boat race about the details of their events for the flyer and poster and return to the board with a more refined draft of the Memorial Day ceremony program soon.

            The committee scheduled its next meeting for May 13, at 5:30 pm, at Town Hall, 1 Constitution Way.

Rochester Events Committee

By Michael J. DeCicco

187-Year-Old Getting a Facelift in Rochester

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Tri-Town residents are noticing bright yellow construction scaffolding alongside the historic Church Vestry, situated on the church green next to Town Hall. The scaffolding is part of a full structure “facelift” aimed at extending the beauty, longevity, and usefulness of one of the town’s iconic landmarks.

            The Vestry and neighboring Sanctuary are the oldest buildings on the green and have been icons of Rochester Center since the late 1830s. The Vestry, originally opened in 1839 as the “Rochester Academy”, was also used by the town as school classrooms for nearly half a century, from 1905 to the early 1950s. Today, the upper floors are home to the Rochester Christian Learning Center, which offers academic resources for homeschooling families in the area.

            This renovation of the Vestry is the ambitious undertaking of the First Congregational Church of Rochester and is the first of two phases in a $450,000 three-year capital campaign which will later extend renovations to the adjacent church sanctuary. The work involves removing multiple layers of aging clapboard and wood-shake siding and replacing it with composite materials designed to resemble the original historic façade. Windows are also being replaced as part of this effort

            It’s an exciting time for this community church which is looking to provide the town with not only a beautiful backdrop to the town center, but an inspirational and functional center of worship, praise, and study.

            The church welcomes donations from community members interested in supporting this project. Donations by check can be sent to the First Congregational Church of Rochester, P.O. Box 98, Rochester, MA 02770, or made online at RochesterCongregational.com. The church is a registered 501©(3) organization.

            The First Congregational Church of Rochester welcomes the public to join worship services held at 10:00 am every Sunday.

Academic Achievements

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Meghan Horan of Mattapoisett was recently elected to membership into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society, at University of Massachusetts.

Frank J. Marston

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Frank J. Marston, 88, of Marion died May 1, 2025 at home.

            He was the husband of the late Mary Patricia (Kane) Marston.

            Born in Boston, son of the late Francis and Helen (Dickenson) Marston, he was raised in Dorchester, and raised his family in Westwood before retiring to Marion.

            He was formerly employed as an electrical engineer with Raytheon for many years and served 2 tours with Raytheon in the Kwajalien Atoll.

            Mr. Marston was a graduate of Tufts University and served in the U.S. Navy.

            He was an avid bridge player and won many state awards.  He also enjoyed reading and walking.

            Survivors include his children, Francis J. Marston and his wife Jeanne of Rochester, and Ellen P. Keats and her husband James of Bolton; two sisters, Mary O’Keefe and Barbara O’Hara; seven grandchildren, Owen, Kyle, Danielle, Sadie, Jake, Jonathan and Jason; 2 great-grandsons, Tristan and Dalton; and numerous nieces and nephews.

            He was the brother of the late Jacqueline Marston and Michael Marston.

            His Funeral will be held on Wednesday, May 7th at 9 AM from the Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home for Funerals, 50 County Rd. (Rt. 6), Mattapoisett, followed by his Funeral Mass at 10 AM in St. Rose of Lima Church, 282 Vaughan Hill Rd., Rochester.  Burial will follow in Evergreen Cemetery, Marion.  Visiting hours will be on Tuesday, May 6th from 4-7 PM.  For directions and guestbook, visit www.saundersdwyer.com.

Matos, Bulldogs Perfect on Courts

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The Old Rochester Regional High School girls tennis team played at Somerset Berkley (6-1) on April 23 and won 5-0. It was an impressive victory for Old Rochester, as both teams coming into the match were undefeated. Neva Matos was named the player of the match. The Bulldogs took a perfect 6-0 record into Tuesday’s match against Seekonk (5-2).

Boys Lacrosse

            Old Rochester hosted Bourne (4-4) on April 25 and won 17-5. The Bulldogs’ winning streak reached five as they took a 6-2 record into Wednesday’s match at Apponequet (7-2).

Baseball

            The Bulldogs played Wareham (1-5-1) on April 25 and won 12-0. Old Rochester took a 4-4 record into Wednesday’s game at Fairhaven (3-4).

ORR Sports Roundup

By Aiden Comorosky

Deadlock at ZBA

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            The Marion Zoning Board of Appeals met on Thursday, April 24 for their one-and-only April meeting for a hearing on Heron Cove Estates of Wareham Street’s application for a variance to allow the construction of 57 single-family dwelling units on 17 acres. Heron Cove Estates LLC was originally approved for 120 homes and now seek to limit that number due to ballooning development costs. Zoning Board of Appeals Chair Cynthia Callow first cited their correspondence with other town bodies.

            The Board of Health, where she stated that board had no comment on the approval of the application. Callow also read off comments from the Planning Board, who said “the applicant should only be allowed to build at a higher density as permitted by – a process that includes approval at annual Town Meeting.” This basically puts the decision to the town voters. The Conservation Commission commented they believed the application is “non-jurisdictional.”

            Mark Bobrowski, representing Heron Cove Estates LLC, stated the cost of the original plans had risen to $8 million, up from original estimates of $3,375,000. 10% of the 57 houses (so, 5-6) would be able to be classified as “affordable housing,” per the original agreement. The general cost-estimates per unit sit around $400/square foot, or a minimum of $800,000~ per unit. There were many questions of sewage, with the new plan to provide surface drainage systems to each unit.

            The discussion of allottable land for affordable housing was raised again later. Member Margherita Baldwin said, “there isn’t a lot of land to build affordable housing in the town.” The Chair reiterated this assertion, saying “we’re running out of land, and we have other projects coming down the pipe.”

            After much discussion, the motion to continue to another time was waged. That other time being May 8, where a comment from Town Council was also requested by the Board. However, of the five-member board, two voted “yay” and three voted “no.” Another vote was held to approve the variance, where three voted “yay” and two “no.” After some confusion, it was confirmed a 4-to-1 vote is required, meaning the two “no” votes cause the variance request to be rejected.

            The Board tried to “table” the meeting until May 8, or until they receive notice from Town Council. Though, this was “muddy” as one member put it due to the former vote for continuance being rejected. The Chair said, “We didn’t accept to continue, and we didn’t accept the variance. So now, where do we go? So now we need Town Council to tell us what happens.”

            The petitions said they would resubmit and file another appeal the following week (April 28).

            The next meeting was not definitively confirmed, though it seems likely for May 8 at 6:30 pm at the Marion Police Department.

Marion Zoning Board of Appeals

By Sam Bishop