Do you enjoy sunshine, salt air, and harbor views? If so, please join the Mattapoisett Land Trust’s Garden Groomers! We meet at Munro Preserve (just west of the Town Wharves) at 8:00 am each Wednesday morning to pull weeds and do light garden maintenance while enjoying the sunshine and a cup of coffee. Join us any Wednesday morning, or email us at info@mattlandtrust.org.
The Elizabeth Taber Library is conducting a community survey as part of our long-range strategic planning! We need your input to help us make decisions about future programs, services, and policies. Take the Elizabeth Taber Library Planning Survey online to be entered to win a $20 gift card. Print surveys are available at the Library, COA, and at the Marion Art Center.
To take the survey visit: forms.gle/4QRKiG3Zf7LLkfiU9 or visit www.ElizabethTaberLibrary.org. For questions or comments please email ETLibrarysurvey@gmail.com.
For more information, call the library at 508-748-1252, or visit us at 8 Spring Street, Marion, MA 02738.
The Elizabeth Taber Library is now open to visitors Monday-Saturday; no appointment necessary. Please check out our website for a full listing of our hours and available services at www.ElizabethTaberLibrary.org.
The following events are planned for ORR seniors:
June 1 at 6:30pm – Senior Parade;
June 2 at 6:00 pm – Senior Prom at Shining Tides;
June 4 at 9:00 am – Graduation Rehearsal
June 4 at 6:30 pm – Senior Awards Night at Hagen Field
June 5 at 12:00 pm – Commencement at Hagen Field (Rain date June 6)
Just before adjourning the May 20 Mattapoisett Zoning Board of Appeals meeting, Director of Inspectional Services Andy Bobola asked the ZBA to confirm the process that establishes an applicant’s need to secure Conservation Commission permissions for a construction project before seeking permits that might be required from the ZBA.
Bobola said that he was seeking the support of the ZBA because increasingly he receives plans needing modifications required by the Conservation Commission, including restrictions and any wetlands-related jurisdictional controls. Such changes, he explained, then put a project in conflict with any permits previously granted by the ZBA such as special permits and variances. Bobola said it creates needless delays in the construction process. He said it makes more sense for the commission to render its conditions and acceptance of a project after thorough conservation oversight. Once secured, the applicant can then seek whatever approvals might be needed from the ZBA, and the ZBA will be better informed as to the site plan.
There resulted a bit of confusion when Attorney Jamy Madeja, representing 0 Starboard Way, LLC, said that currently the Conservation Commission requires the ZBA to adjudicate first. She stressed that the case she represented before the ZBA that night might be sent back if the commission saw fit to not hear it before the ZBA did. Bobola disagreed with that assertion.
In the end, the ZBA unanimously affirmed the requirement that applicants needing ZBA approvals would first go through the Conservation Commission process, thus clearing the way for any ZBA involvement.
Madeja’s representation of 0 Starboard Way also saw some hiccups when abutters represented by Attorney Mike Kehoe questioned whether or not the two undeveloped lots being reviewed had in fact been merged, thus creating one lot, not two.
Madeja countered that the applicants had been paying two tax bills and that each lot had a sewer stub; therefore, they were, in fact, two lots. Bobola confirmed that proposed lot coverage and height of proposed single-family dwellings were within the scope of bylaws.
Brian Grady of G.A.F. Engineering, also representing 0 Starboard Way, LLC, said that lot coverage was planned at 14 percent and that the height of the buildings would be under 35 feet. Grady also pointed out early in his presentation that the properties in question had previously been granted Special Permits in 2012, but that at that time no work had taken place and the permits had lapsed.
Chairperson Susan Akin said a least two letters had been received in objection to the development of the lots, primarily due to intermittent flooding, an issue that had also troubled the chair. This point, she said, was why the project needed to go through the Conservation Commission first.
Madeja, on behalf of her client and at the behest of the ZBA, asked to withdraw the application without prejudice. Permission was granted.
In other business, a Special Permit was approved for 56 Ocean Drive, owned by Conrad and Janice Roy, for the demolition of their fire-damaged home and the construction of a new single-family home on the 37,000 square-foot lot. The original home had been constructed in 1952.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Zoning Board of Appeals will be scheduled for Thursday, June 17, at 6:00 pm if there are cases to be heard.
Mattapoisett Zoning Board of Appeals
By Marilou Newell
On Thursday, May 20, Rochester Senior Center staff and volunteers delivered trees to the Rochester Memorial Elementary School first grade students. This gift to first-graders is an annual tradition in honor of Arbor Day.
On Saturday, May 29, the Rochester Fire Department is hosting a traditional ham and bean supper with potato salad, coleslaw, and apple crisp. All food items are homemade. The supper will be served from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm at the Rochester Senior Center. Meals are dine-in or take-out. Tickets for the ham and bean supper will be available at the door at the time of the event and are $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under.
Blood Pressure/Wellness Clinics at the Senior Center will return to Wednesdays in June. The public health nurse is also available to answer questions by telephone. Please call the Board of Health at 508-763-5421, or the Senior Center at 508-763-8723 to contact the nurse.
The Rochester Senior Center will be closed on Monday, May 31, in observance of Memorial Day.
Please contact the Senior Center at 508-763-8723 for more information or to make reservations for rides and/or events.
In celebration of their 80th Anniversary, the Mattapoisett Woman’s Club announces a celebratory garden tour, Glorious Gardens, on Saturday, June 26, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, rain or shine. The public is invited to view seven fabulous gardens selected for a variety of gardening styles. Inspirations await the attendees who visit the various gardens – from formal to informal, woodsy to cottage, seaside to secluded. The gardens will highlight the use of annuals, perennials, vegetables, herbs, shrubs, trees, and beautiful container plantings.
Advance tickets are $25 each and will be available at the following locations: In Fairhaven, Periwinkles and Gotta Have It; in Marion, Always in Bloom and Eden Florist & Garden Shop; in Mattapoisett, Isabelle’s, Pen & Pendulum, Town Wharf General Store, and Ying Dynasty. Tickets may also be purchased online using the PayPal button on the Mattapoisett Woman’s Club website, www.mattapoisettwomansclub.org.
Tickets purchased on the day of the tour will be $30 and only available at the Mattapoisett Woman’s Club Garden Tour tent in the parking lot next to Ying Dynasty, 24 County Road, Mattapoisett.
All ticketholders must pick up the map for the self-guided tour at the MWC tent on June 26. No maps will be available before that date.
The proceeds of the garden tour will benefit the Mattapoisett Woman’s Club Scholarship Fund.
The Mattapoisett Woman’s Club is always open to new members from the South Coast area. For more information and a membership application, please see the Club’s website at www.mattapoisettwomansclub.org/members.
The Massachusetts COVID-19 guidelines will be followed throughout the tour.
The Mattapoisett Woman’s Club awarded two $2,000 scholarships to Mattapoisett residents who are graduating high school seniors and a $1,000 scholarship to a Mattapoisett resident who is in pursuit of a post-secondary degree. This year’s recipients are:
Kara LeBlanc, a student at Old Colony Regional Technical High School, plans to attend Johnson and Wales University to expand her baking and management skills. She was a camper at the YMCA from a very young age and has progressed to become a staff member for the past three years.
ORR student Emma Williamson plans to attend Northeastern University with a double major in Mathematics and Political Science. During her high school career, she interned with the Sippican Historical Society as an archival researcher and also received many school honors. She is an active member of the Massachusetts Climate Education Organization (MCEO), whose goal is to mandate climate justice.
Serena Jaskolka, a graduate of ORR and Worcester State University, is pursuing an MS in Speech-Language Pathology at the University of New Hampshire.
The MWC’s scholarship history started in 1943 with $5 awarded to a Center School Mattapoisett student. In 1948, the amount was $100 and has steadily increased, thanks to our community supported fundraising efforts. To date, more than $100,000 in scholarships has been presented to local scholars.
The Mattapoisett Woman’s Club is always open to new members from the South Coast area. For more information and a membership application, please see the Club’s website at www.mattapoisettwomansclub.org/members.
Bishop Stang High School will celebrate the graduation of 121 seniors who have successfully completed their course of studies on Friday, May 28. The graduation will be presided over by Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha S.D.V., D.D. who will confer the diplomas and address the graduates. Presentation of candidates will be conducted by Bishop Stang President/Principal Peter Shaughnessy, Assistant Principal of Academics Kathleen Ruginis, and Bishop Stang Assistant Principal of Students Michael O’Brien. Invocation will be performed by Father David Pignato and congratulatory remarks made by Daniel S. Roy, Fall River Diocese Superintendent of Schools. Tri-Town Graduates include:
From Marion: Marissa Botelho, Bridget Clavell, Raquel da Costa, & Sophie Lynch,
Martin, Ryan; From Mattapoisett: Liam Downey, Cole Dube, Hayden Duke, Ella Meninno, & Joel Michaud; From Rochester: Dylan Aguiar, Maxwell Brulport, and Isaac Ouellette.
Charles Evans Bascom died peacefully in Tucson on March 29th, 2021 at the age of 79 as the gorgeous full moon was setting. His last days were spent at home surrounded by loving caregivers, friends and family.
Charlie was fascinated with all things to do with the sky, be it celestial navigation or pyrotechnics. There was no holiday or event that couldn’t be enhanced by a few fireworks. He was a collector of marine instruments, tools, friends, experiences, blues albums, scraps of unused paper – you might call him a hoarder. He was a tinkerer and a fixer – had more tools than most and knew how to use them all. And, he was a great cook. He loved to travel and was intrepid when attempting to speak a foreign language or learn to cook an unfamiliar cuisine.
Charlie was most comfortable at sea – unfortunately he married a landlubber but she did try. He loved “messing about in boats” – rigging, chartering, cruising, and inviting friends on an “adventure” (you know who you are!). He loved to amuse people with his very dry, subtle and often off-the-wall sense of humor. He was a wild and crazy dancer with a style all his own – very hard to follow but definitely enthusiastic! He could spend hours listening to B.B. King and Chuck Berry. He was always ready to recite Eskimo Nell – a “poem” in the style, if not the content, of Robert Service. Then there were the movie and murder mystery parties, scavenger hunts and sleep overs – the early years in Marion.
Cozy and comfortable was his style. A night by the fireplace with his friends and his dogs was his idea of heaven. Totally non-judgmental, empathic and a little quirky, he was a gentle man and a gentleman. Charlie met his personal challenges with grace and good humor.
Charlie was born in St. Louis MO to Elizabeth Evans Bascom and Joseph Holliday Bascom in 1941. He graduated from Brooks School where he met a wonderful group of lifelong friends and had many nonacademic adventures – rewiring the school and riding to class backwards on his bike, for instance. Charlie also served on the Brooks School board from 2004-2015. He graduated from Boston University in 1964 and got his MBA from Columbia University in 1971. He served in the Massachusetts Army National Guard from 1965 to 1970. In 1970, he married Christina Mitchell Bascom. They moved to Marion MA in 1971 and in recent years, divided their time between Marion and Tucson AZ.
Charlie was an early adopter of computers and loved to write software. After Columbia, Charlie worked for Raytheon Technologies Corporation in Washington D.C. and later for Environmental Devices Corporation in Marion, MA He developed software for boatyards and founded Quadrant Corporation and WatchCaptain LLC. He was President of the Rotch Jones Duff House board and on the New Bedford Whaling Museum board and very active philanthropically in the New Bedford area. He was also a founding board member of the Marion Bermuda Race and the Marion Antiques Show.
Charlie is survived by his wife, Christina, and his sister, Constance Bascom McPheeters and her children and families – Alex and Jennie McPheeters, Lizzy and Dave Rickard and Katherine McPheeters.
Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to: Community Boating Center of New Bedford 1641 Padanaram Avenue, New Bedford,MA 02740
Edward F. Alves Sr. passed away unexpectedly on Friday December 4, 2020 at Tobey hospital in Wareham. He was born in New Bedford two loving parents Bernadette McQuade Alves and Edward Louis Alves on December 27, 1950. He is survived by his wife Lynette and three sons, Edward F. Alves II of New Hampshire, Robert G. Alves and grandson Robert E. Alves of Connecticut, and Mark Moore and wife Carolynn and grandchildren Audrey, Jacqueline, and Ryan of Braintree.
Edward is also survived by his four siblings, Catherine Clark and husband Dan of New Hampshire, Joseph Alves and wife Judy of Virginia, John Alves and wife Diane of Dartmouth, Paul Alves and wife Janet of North Carolina, and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Edward graduated from New Bedford Vocational High School with a degree in welding in 1969 and then enlisted in the United States Navy in 1970. Responsible for the maintenance of DC3 cargo planes during the Vietnam War, he was promoted to Aircraft Mechanic Captain in charge of flight crews responsible for the maintenance and welfare of these aircraft. He was recognized for his service by receiving the National Defense Service Medal and an honorable discharge from the US Navy on April 29, 1975.
A lifelong resident of Mattapoisett, Edward adored his family. He was quick to lend a helping hand and perhaps more so, to share his sense of humor to lighten the mood and raise our spirits. His kindness, generosity, and quick wit that defined his character will certainly be missed by all who knew and loved him.
A private funeral service with military honors will be held at the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne on June 4, 2021.
Rest in peace Eddie.
