Benefit for Becket

on

            Residents of New Bedford and surrounding towns might be familiar with the brand “Rayn’s Revolver” or perhaps the woman behind the brand, Amberrayn Vaughn. Both her store and her aesthetic speak of forging one’s own path, something she credits in part to her dear friend, Becket W. Kiernan.

            “Becket walked through life with intense passion and love for everyone that he crossed paths with,” Rayn’s Revolver’s website reads.

            “Becket was a scholar-warrior,” Lynda Kiernan, Becket’s mother, reported. “He was an avid reader, especially of military history – from reading the Art of War to pieces written about every conflict and war throughout history and pieces written by contemporary Marines – he absorbed it all.”

            Becket W. Kiernan joined the Marines as a 17-year-old after graduating from Old Rochester Regional High School as an honor student. While residing at Marine Corps base Twentynine Palms (California), Kiernan fell ill and was taken to a nearby hospital a few days later after base doctors were unable to treat him. He passed away from a bacterial infection that same day, too soon for his family to reach him. He was only 18 years old.

            “One of Becket’s greatest gifts was his ability to make people see the good and the great potential in themselves,” Lynda Kiernan said. “He inspired people. He made people believe in themselves, and he would often check in with friends and the adults in his life, asking, ‘Are you okay?’

            “He attended many leadership schools across the country and organized and directed encampments for hundreds of Young Marines, while he himself was still a teenager … and at each and every one, he always made sure he ate last.”

            In the years preceding his death, Becket W. Kiernan ran several successful Toys for Tots campaigns, collecting 1,000 toys in the year before his enlistment. He had been a member of the Young Marines for seven years, as well as being the Color Sergeant for the Color Guard of his Fall River Young Marine Unit and participated in countless community service events.

            “For about two years before he enlisted at 17, Becket and I went back and forth about the course he was to take to achieve his goals,” Lynda Kiernan recalled. “He was so brilliant, I asked if he would consider continuing school and enlisting through OCS. But he was adamant. He wanted to enlist as infantry in the Corps, telling me that he felt he couldn’t be the most effective leader unless he walked in the shoes of those he was leading.”

            His death left a wound that still aches for those who knew him, and his loved ones are adamant that it could and should have been prevented.

            “Becket’s family, Lynda, Mallory and Maeg, came to me with an idea to create a memorial for Becket in our hometown,” said Vaughn. “I had reached out before about what else I could do to help keep Becket’s memory alive, and this was the perfect opportunity to do so.”

            A benefit is planned for February 19 at the Galactic Theater in Warren, Rhode Island. It will be a night of live music with local artists and raffle prizes, including gift cards to House of Rage and the Cask & Pig, as well as tickets to see the Led Zeppelin tribute band Get the Led Out. All proceeds are going towards a memorial for Beckett W. Kiernan, as well as raising awareness and support for SaveOurServiceMembers.org. The event is 21-plus. Those wishing to make a direct donation without attending the event can contact raynsrevolver@gmail.com.

            “This benefit is more than just about raising money, it’s an opportunity to bring his loved ones and friends together to enjoy a night of remembrance,” said Vaughn. “Grief can be very lonely, this gives us a chance to grieve him together. New friends and strangers wander into this event as well. It’s a perfect time to share his story, share who he was, share our love for him with new people.”

            This benefit will be the second one, having previously raised $1,800 in 2022.

            “The last event had such an amazing crowd filled with new and old friends, Becket’s loving family and our Young Marine staff members,” Vaughn reminisced. The freshly named “Becket’s Annual Night of Shenanigans” will, as the title suggests, be a yearly event.

            Family and friends of Becket W. Kiernan are asking that anyone who served with him or was stationed at Marine Corps Base Twentynine Palms in February of 2018 and has information regarding Becket’s death contact them through the Save Our Servicemembers project.

            “He truly lived the tenants of selfless leadership, generosity of spirit, loyalty, honor, character and service,” Vaughn added. “Becket was an amazing friend. He continues to be a role model for MANY people. Our passion to remember him will last a lifetime. He was the kindest, most selfless and brilliant leader many of us have ever known. We hope to inspire thousands with his story.”

By Jack MC Staier

Pools, Plans, and Stations

on

The Planning Board started its February 14 meeting by approving the special permits for the construction of an in-ground swimming pool behind a multi-unit home at 7 Marion Road.

            The board had to decide whether to permit the pool under both Scenic Highway and Groundwater District regulations.

            The permits will allow building owner Kerri Souza to install an 18×36-foot pool with a steel wall vinyl liner that she alone will use behind her four-unit building. The project’s installer Gary Medeiros promised in his January meeting with the board that the pool won’t be visible from the road. An ornamental aluminum fence will surround it, and the entire fill created by the work will remain on-site. Souza assured the board this would be a private pool for her use only. It will be accessible from the back door of her unit. She rents out the other three units.

            The Planning panel’s next action Tuesday was to release the subdivision covenant to allow construction at 253 Hartley Road, Lawrence Way, Gilmore Cranberry Company. The board then voted to recommend the selectmen not acquire land at 0 High Street that is being taken out of 61A agricultural land protective status. The property is being proposed for a wireless telecommunications tower.

            Next, the board approved sending to the selectmen three zoning articles for the spring annual town meeting. Town Planner Nancy Durfee said that what’s needed will be language revisions to regulations regarding ‘orderly development’, marijuana retail and production regulations and correcting a typo: regulation 53C should read 53G.

            Lastly, board chairman Arnold Johnson updated panel members on the Public Safety Facility Feasibility Committee that he also chairs.

            That board, he explained, agreed to focus on a three-fold plan to renovate and expand the 26 Dexter Lane police station, build a new fire station headquarters at either 65 Pine St. or 0 Mendell Road and further down the timeline, build a fire sub-station at 0 High St., where a quicker emergency response will be needed when a proposed 60-unit senior housing development is built at Route 28.

            Johnson said the police station’s existing sally port is being demolished and replaced by a larger port that will fit modern-size patrol cars and ambulances and will connect to the mail building through a corridor. He said it was agreed to not rush having a design proposal for the spring town meeting. For that purpose, there likely would be a summer special town meeting.

            Planning Board member Ben Bailey asked how such a large project would be funded. Johnson said some town debt will soon be retired from other town capital projects, and now is the time for the Finance Committee to get involved in the planning process.

            Town Planner Nancy Durfee announced that the board’s recording secretary Lori Walsh has left that position to become the new full-time administrative assistant in the Building Department. Planning panel administrative assistant Dawn DiMaggio has temporarily replaced her while the town interviews two applicants to permanently replace her.

            The board’s next meeting will be February 28 at 7 pm in the town hall conference room, 1 Constitution Way.

Rochester Planning Board

By Michael J. DeCicco

Marion Natural History Museum

on

Attention Pre-Schoolers and Homeschoolers, the Marion Natural History Museum is now open to the public on Friday mornings. The museum features collections of minerals, fossils, butterflies, birds of prey and many other specimens. Appointments may be made for field trips.  If you would like to schedule a time to come in and view these specimens as part of a lesson or just for fun, please contact the director for an appointment. We are open Wednesdays 10 – 4 pm and Fridays 10 – 4 pm.

From the Files of the Rochester Historical Society

on

Ideas for these articles come from many sources, but as I’ve mentioned before, scrapbooks in the museum collection are full of interesting stories. Over the 50-odd years of the Rochester Historical Society, various members have assembled scrapbooks full of pictures, mementos and pertinent news articles. While leafing through one of these books, I came across the picture of Captain Amos Haskins, a Native American whaler out of New Bedford, born in Rochester and with ties to the Aquinnahs of Gay Head, Martha’s Vineyard.

            While crews on the whaling ships departing from and returning to New Bedford were diverse; local farm boys, sons of merchants, escaped slaves, Native Americans and islanders from stops made during voyages, the same was seldom true of the men who rose to captain whale ships. They were primarily white men, many of whom could afford to live in large homes in the neighborhoods of New Bedford.

            While a lot is not known about Amos Haskins, we do know he was born in Rochester on September 9, 1816. He was employed in the whaling trade, first as a sailor and then as a 1st or 2nd mate on several ships, including the “Annawon”, the “Willis” and the “Triton”. At age 35, he became a rare Native American captain of the “Massasoit.” He was in charge of a crew of 22 with 12 of the crew being persons of color.

            As a captain, Haskins was successful enough to afford a home at 163 William St. where he lived with his wife, Elizabeth P. Farmer, whom he married in 1844. Haskins was lost at sea in 1861. His last known descendant was a daughter, Caroline W. who married a Thompson Hill and died in 1918.

            In New Bedford’s Rural Cemetery, there is a stone inscribed:

 Captain Amos Haskins

Born Rochester Sept. 9, 1816

Lost at Sea November, 1861

By Connie Eshbach

Just for Today

on

Just for today … I will not judge or criticize or blame others or myself.

            Instead I will compliment and encourage,

            both others and myself.

Just for today … I will remember to give thanks,

            for the gift of family and friends.

Just for today … I will send a little note,

            to someone I care about,

            to show them I am thinking of them.

Just for today … I will give to everyone,

            a kind word, a silent prayer,

            and wish them joy, happiness and laughter.

Just for today … I will take time to appreciate,

            all the blessed miracles that God has granted,

            to really see the flowers, the green grass,

            and the fresh new green leaves, the sunshine.

Just for today … I will remember,

            That God walks beside me every step of the way,

            and guides me,

            and that God loves and cherishes each and every one of us,

            each and every day.

Just for today … I will strive to do my best,

            I will be patient, kind, helpful and forgiving,

            each and every day,

            for tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.

            Editor’s Note: Hope Bradley Finley passed away on January 13 at age 95. The Mattapoisett resident was thrilled to have The Wanderer publish her poems and essays, something we will continue to do this winter.

The Poet’s Corner

By Hope Bradley Finley

Mockingbird’s Music in A Backyard near You

on

            The musical Mockingbird is well known as a backyard bird with a vast vocabulary of songs and a variety of other sounds up to 200 in number to orally select from.

            Each sound at the drop of a hat is usually repeated as many as six times during the day and even more during the night of mating season. Bird-watching experts believe that as the male expands the number of possibilities to choose from, he becomes a more attractive suitor to females looking for a mate.

            What the experts don’t often know is that a Mockingbird’s imitations also include a large number of human-made sounds such as loud, human laughter, the ringing of a door bell or the sound of an alarm clock. Other mechanical sounds include a train whistle or the siren from a fire house. And in my illustration, it can often be the sound of a church tower with a catchy religious hymnal, “The Bells of St. Mary’s.”

            How can the bird possibly imitate every one of these different combinations that come through so realistically? The sounds that most animals make are way down in their throats near their lungs to produce a thick, throaty volume, but birds blow a vocal pitch though their windpipes, sounding more like the horn of a trumpet. Then their voices are funneled into the ear like the horn of a trumpet passing into the ear with a loud and clear tone that is easily identified.

            A hundred years ago, people were allowed to trap and cage Mockingbirds to show off their entertaining vocal performance. They were taken out of nests at a young age and sold into influential homes in Philadelphia, St. Louis and New York. In 1928, they would fetch as much as $50. However, now you can attract them to perform in your bird-watching backyards by keeping the lawns open and edges planted with fruit trees, mulberry and black berries.

            Now with the arrival of global warming and climate change, the Mockingbird’s total habitat has expanded into more northern, adjoining states, thus increasing the chances that you and your children will have something to tell about in school, just as you have learned as a reader of The Wanderer.

By George B. Emmons

Estimates of Station Construction

on

            The Public Safety Facility Feasibility Study Committee on February 14 agreed with consultant Ted Galante’s new focus for examining whether to combine, replace or rehab the town’s police and fire stations.

            At the conclusion of Gallante’s presentation on study options Tuesday afternoon, he and the board agreed his firm will focus on a plan to renovate and expand the 26 Dexter Lane police station, build a new fire station headquarters at 65 Pine Street and further down the timeline, build a fire sub-station at 0 High St., where a quicker emergency response will be needed when a proposed senior housing development is built at Route 58 and 28.

            With both ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ construction and associated costs included, the two-site plan will cost roughly $32 million, Gallante said. The sub-station plan will bump that cost up to $35 million.

            Gallante clarified that his current estimates don’t yet include what kind of ‘programming’ planners will decide will go in these new interiors.

            He began the meeting by detailing all the options for what he called a Master Plan for improving the town’s public safety facilities. At 26 Dexter Lane, the town could expand and modify the existing police station, which right now suffers from lack of adequate space. The small sally port and conference room would be taken down and replaced with a new, larger sally port and a two-story extension. At 65 Pine St., the town would build a Fire Department headquarters or a combined police/fire facility.

            Before the board agreed to these two plans, another option, Gallante said, is building a new fire or police station at 0 Mendell Road, though this parcel is not town-owned and includes wetlands.

            The advantage to 0 High St. is that it is town-owned, town administrator Glenn Cannon said. Fire chief Scott Weigel said the sub-station proposal for that location should be part of a five-year plan because the senior housing project is only in its developmental stage.

            Board member and selectman Brad Morse suggested the panel vote on which option it prefers. But other members said that will be rushing matters.

            Board member David Arancio said that as town moderator he knows the public will need a ton of information to make a wise decision on this project at town meeting. He said the target should not be to schedule a vote on this for the May’s annual town meeting.

            The board agreed, leading Gallante to happily conclude his firm will be able to just focus on the conceptual plans and budget figures for these options and return with them at the next meeting. That meeting was scheduled for March 14 at 2:30 pm in the meeting room of the Town Office Building, 1 Constitution Way, Rochester.

            The February 14 meeting also featured committee members noting that the Rochester Country Fair, which took place annually at 65 Pine Street, has been discontinued; the fair committee has disbanded.

Rochester Public Safety Facility Feasibility Study Committee

By Michael J. DeCicco

All Things Art for Tweens Returns this Summer

on

All Things Art returns for the 2022 summer camp season. Program director Kate Frazer Rego will lead three sessions of this immersive weeklong program, which takes place in late summer and is geared toward young artists ages 10-13. During their time in the MAC Art Studio, young artists will experiment with a number of practices, techniques and media including drawing, sculpting, printmaking, fiber arts, working with clay and more. Learn how to talk about art making and what inspires one’s creative choices. Some class time will be spent outdoors, weather permitting. Three one week sessions are available, and the program runs Monday through Friday from 9:00 am-12:30 pm each day: Session 1: Monday, July 31-Friday, August 4; Session 2: Monday, August 7-Friday, August 11; Session 3: Monday, August 14-Friday, August 18. Cost for MAC Members is $250 plus $55 materials fee per student, and the cost for nonmembers is $290 plus $55 materials fee per student. Payment plans are available upon request. Space is limited. Register online at marionartcenter.org/all-things-art.

New DPW Will Lean on Local Expertise

on

Marion stakeholders are determined to build the town’s new Department of Public Works operations center on the $4,500,000 budget approved by voters last year at Town Meeting, and they intend to do it by internally handling as many tasks as legal and possible and bypassing a general contractor.

            Some tasks, lead architect Will Saltonstall told the Marion DPW Building Committee during Monday’s meeting at the Town House, can fall into the “self-perform” category, “rather than bundling this whole package and sending it out to GAC.”

            After budget numbers came back from project estimators, Ken Motta of Field Engineering produced a site plan to further examine costs at Benson Brook.

            Saltonstall suggested that the salt-shed assembly can fall into the self-perform category, along with other parts of the infrastructure, including the sewer line that will run from the facility to its connection to town sewer. That can be taken care of ahead of facility construction.

            “Everything on the project-cost side of things,” said Saltonstall, will go out to general bid, but “there are quiet costs that you don’t have to add in there. … We can still get to our budget. … Think Rochester facility.”

            Still on the table are three distinct construction strategies: 1. a preengineered metal frame on a concrete foundation, such as the Rochester DPW facility; 2. a stick frame wood with wood truss roof on a concrete foundation, such as the Sandwich DPW (believed to cost $145,000 more); and 3. a preengineered wood frame pole barn on concrete tubes, such as a Morton brand construction.

            As of November 2021, total project cost for the new Marion DPW was estimated at $4,399,024. It has since jumped to $7,938,140 primarily due to change from a two-building design (operations center and vehicle maintenance/storage) to all in one. The salt shed remains a separate construction.

            While the consolidation into one building is meant to eliminate redundancies in construction and infrastructure, the redesign also resulted in a plan to close the sides of what was going to be a preengineered metal vehicle-storage building, doubling the size of that structure and resulting in a $2,046,933 increase.

            The cost of a general contractor has doubled since November 2021 from $462,627 to $934,947.04.

            A do-it-yourself approach cannot be applied to operations/vehicle-storage construction and salt-shed assembly, but it can reduce sitework from $1,207,985 (January 2023) to $400,000 (less than the November 2021 budget figure of $684,818) and it can reduce the cost of a general contractor to $509,053.95.

            Saltonstall’s six-part “potential construction strategy” will lean heavily on cooperation from various subcontractors and good fortune with supply chains.

            Randy Parker, the Select Board’s representative to the committee, told the members he will approach Upper Cape Tech about the school’s interest in using the project for student experience.

            Saltonstall recently met with a Morton representative, noting that the company known for its preengineered buildings is outside of the committee’s cost estimator.

            Parker said that Morton “does a lot of things on their own” and likes their insulation product. “All the Morton buildings today are capable of taking solar … earlier in this conversation they were not.”    Parker also noted that Morton guarantees its paint for 25 years.

            Construction still must go through a public bidding process, noted Saltonstall.

            After much in the way of careful discussion regarding the many moving parts in a partly do-it-yourself strategy, the committee discussed next steps.

            Saltonstall told the committee he will meet offline with the DPW crew and specifically with Ken Motta of Field Engineering to draw from his expertise on site costs and gain a better understanding of critical time factors and the schedule. He will also seek feedback from Morton buildings on construction costs and engineering.

            Morton offers buildings in standard sizes that can save the town money by tweaking its design dimensions to Morton’s existing standards.

            Saltonstall anticipates another public meeting within a few weeks, but the committee needs more information before setting a date.

Marion DPW Building Committee

By Mick Colageo

ORRHS Second Term Honor Roll

on

The following students have achieved honors for the second term at Old Rochester Regional High School:

            Highest Honors, Grade 9; Gavin Coffey, Hannah Thorell, Amanda Tomasso, Sasha Volkema, Grade10; Clara Bonney, Nolan Bushnell, David Fredette, Dillon Furtado, Caitlin O’Donnell, Zoe Pateakos, Scarlet Patnaude, Emily Wyman, Grade 11; Jacob Hadley, Corinne Hibbert, Grade 12; Sylvie Benson, Makenzi DeMello, Paige Fuller, Eliza Guard, Sofia Irish, Landon Maxwell, Aidan O’Donnell, Sarah Wyman.

                  Honors, Grade 9; Caroline Achilles, Chloe Bairos, Henry Berry, Ella Bishop, Cadel Bosma, Aiden Cabral, Russell Chace, Quinn Chisholm, Rosemary Clark, Charlotte Cook, Tucker Cook, Raegan Correia, Makenzie Crowley, Grace Custadio, Matthew DaRosa, Isabella Feeney, Alexandra Fiano, Giada Gandolfi, Brandon Gates, Connor Gauthier, Clara Gouveia-Silva, Ian Hartwig, Madalyn Haverty, Brody Hiles, Caroline Houdelette, Christopher Huffman, Jacob Iappini, Riley Karo, Elizabeth Kilpatrick, Hadley King, Olivia Kinney, Charlotte Laliberte, Caitlyn Lund, Neva Matos, Tiera McCarthy, Iain McManus, Carly Mello, Zachary Mendes, Alivia Miranda, Caillaigh Mullen, Emily Pacheco, Jiya Patel, Quinn Perry, Nina Pierre, Tyler Porto, Delilah Post, Leah Ptaszenski, Noah Robert-Howley, Sebastian Romig, Grace Rousseau, Noah Santos, Austin Scully, Molly Souza, Katherine Thomsen, Noah Thorell, Alexandra Tobin, Linden White, Molly Wronski, Katherine Young, Grade 10; Ella Bartholomew, Caroline Brogioli, Erin Cardinal, Delaney Chase, Kelsi Chick, Braeden Christopher, Madison Conner, Sarah Curry, Gianna DeLeo, Jake Dellas, Luke DeVoe, Karen Dondyk, Elijah Dorval, Isabella Doyle, Jeannine Duchaine, Hailee Ducharme, Eden Dupre, Aidan Eagle, Hannah Eaton, Jack Gallagher, Connor Galligan, Zachary Gates, Emerson Gonet, Chloe Guttenberger, Logan Hart-Bonville, Mallory Henesey, Elizabeth Houdelette, Jack Langlais, Peter le Gassick, Cormac LeClair, Aubrie Letourneau, Aiden Levasseur, Jenna Lynch, Logan Maher, Katherine McIlmail, Madison Mello, Zack Mourao, Heer Patel, Jayden Pedro, Jocelyn Pires, Alexander Pither, Audrey Pither, Brady Reardon, Alaina Redsicker, Matthew Rock, Sienna Roveda, Christina Shultz, Wilson Skomal, Alexa St. Louis, Scarlett Sylvia, Aubrey Sylvia-Everett, Avery Tavares, Ezra Thompson, Amelia Trout, Cassandra Tseki, Cameron Van Ness, Tessa Winslow, Grade 11; Emily Abbott, Noah Arsenault, Lila Bangs, Chloe Bean, Chase Besancon, Hunter Bishop, Sofia Bouley, John Bowman, John Butler, Ella Caesar, Murray Callahan, Eloise Casi, Theodore Cecil, Tyler Chick, Henry Cooney, Sara Costa, Rylie Coughlin, Julia Crain, Eliza Curtis, Alia Cusolito, Dandara De Oliveira, Amalia Dupre, Dylan Durgin, Amber Engel, Ethan Furtado, Reilly Garber, Cole Goldie, Elizabeth Harrington, Eva Hartley, Aurora Hayden, Aubrey Heise, Macy Ingham, Theo Jacobsen, Lily Johnson, Matthew Kennefick, Sara Kroll, Logan Leblanc, Keelin Lienkamp, Ty MacKenzie, Marina Martins, Aleeya McCarthy, Megan McFadyen, Ava McLeod, Noah Mendes, Owen Modracek, Nashajia Monteiro, Jonathan Nguyen, Liam O’Connell, Brenna O’Donnell, Anna Pereira, Emilia Perriera, Logan Perry, Darin Procopio, George Psichopaidas, Kelly Quinlan, Shay-ann Robertson, Marcus Robichaud, Kamryn Rodrigues, Gabriella Romig, Allison Root, Mariana Sudofsky, Jason Tobin, Angela Tomasso, Arielle Troupe, Jackson Veugen, Tyler Williams, Remy Wilson, Allison Winters, Jenna Woodward, Tyler Young, Grade 12; Rudy Arsenault, Maura Bailey, Samuel Balsis, Ava Barrows, Gage Beauchemin, Gabriella Berg, Ryan Blanchette, Torsten Brickley, Elizabeth Bumpus, Reese Burger, Theodore Carroll, Emily Cavanaugh-Fauteux, Caitlin Collier, Murray Copps, Melessa Correia Silva, David Costa, Brady Dias, Kathleen Dunn, Josephine Eleniefsky, Failenn Fitzpatrick, Julia Foye, Lila Galavotti, Liam Geraghty, Leo Grondin, Mason Hanks, Alexander Harrigan, Dylan Hartley-Matteson, Jack Hebert, Caryn Heise, Elizabeth Higgins, Derek Hiralall, Sakurako Huynh-Aoyama, Emily Kilpatrick, Rosemary Lally, Aiden Lamontagne, Storm Lanzoni, Brady LaPierre, Ashley Lawrence, Philip le Gassick, Jillian LeBlanc, Brady Lee, Nicole Londergan, Myles Lopes, Mackenzie Luong, Drew MacGregor, Alexander Marsden, Jacksen Martin, Kyle McCullough, William McIlmail, Hailey Murphy, Samuel Newton, Alexander Nguyen, Jordan Nguyen, Camryn Nye, Quinn O’Brien-Nichols, William O’Shaughnessy, Abigail Paulette, Kaitlin Peck, Andrew Poulin, Jeffrey Radek, Lauren Rapoza, Henry Richards, Corinne Robert, Reagan Rock, Walter Rosher, Mariah Ruell, Kira Sarkarati, Norah Schiappa, Ella Shultz, Kyle Smith, Laura Spearin, Emma Van Ness, Isabella Vanderpol, Mackenzie Vigeant, Arianna Vinagre, Emma Welter, Samuel Williamson.