John Middleton has been collecting the flotsam and jetsam he’s come across over years of beach combing. Each piece carried home simply because it could not be left behind to an unknown fate even if he wasn’t sure how he might use that broken bit of signage or weathered, water-soaked chunk of driftwood.

            These were gifts from an ocean that no longer wanted them bobbing about. Once carried to the tide line, someone came along, someone who thought, “There’s a story.”

            Middleton is that someone, but his own journey is one that speaks to a life ever evolving, ever changing like sea glass polished over and over again.

            Originally from San Francisco, Middleton grew up in Kansas City. He studied at the University of Kansas where he received bachelor degrees in English and History. Later he earned a PhD from Indiana University. His dissertation was on Moby Dick.

            Middleton’s first professional act was that of a professor of English at Georgia State University specializing in American Literature. He has also received a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

            For his second act, Middleton pursued a career in sales and marketing. Upon retiring from the business world, he stepped into his third act, earning a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.

            Middleton has always collected materials from beaches wherever he goes. Those objects became very important to him once he began to see them as potential pieces of art and embarked on his fourth act, an artist using the medium of found objects to create stunning and thought-provoking works.

            On his website, Middleton notes, “Time, tides, wind, storms, marine organisms and sun transform objects … in ways that can render them strange and beautiful.” The changes sustained by wood, glass or metal that has been submerged in ocean waters leaves the materials “scraped and scoured into new forms that obscure their original history.” Where nature leaves off, Middleton begins to give those found objects their new lives.

            When we caught up with Middleton at his home in Mattapoisett, he had just returned from installing a number of his pieces in that Mattapoisett Library for a one-man show now on display through mid-January. We asked him about the creative process that he said was rather complex, but he did offer, “I see how pieces align, and I focus on some of the details that punctuate the pieces.”

            Using glue, screws and other affixing materials, individual pieces like a new type of puzzle are pulled together by Middleton into something altogether different from the original intent.

            Middleton said that he does occasionally add a touch of paint or other objects “to underscore and focus attention” on specific features, but overall the finished work is made from materials left in their found state. “Mechanical skills are critical to the joinery of objects in a completed work,” he added.

            At his studio located in the Hatch Street Studios in New Bedford, home to numerous visual artists of all stripes, Middleton creates his own kind of magic: transforming, rearranging, creating beauty that emerges from an eye that sees what lies within.

            Other locations where Middleton’s work has been exhibited include the Marion Art Center, Bromfield Gallery in Boston, Shattuck Gallery in Westport, the Falmouth Artists Guild and the Mattapoisett Museum.

            One final note: Middleton credits the much-loved novel Moby Dick for bringing him to this area. No doubt, Melville would be pleased.

By Marilou Newell

Neither Tri-Town Against Racism nor the Town of Mattapoisett is taking the weekend vandalism of the Free Little Diverse Library at Ned’s Point as a little thing.

            In a Tuesday email to The Wanderer, Mattapoisett Town Administrator Mike Lorenco wrote that he has visited the site, spoken with Police Chief Jason King and said the town will be investigating the matter to see if the responsible parties can be identified.

            “If this was a targeted attack against the Tri-Town Against Racism group, the Town will ensure it is dealt with appropriately,” Lorenco wrote.

            Reached by phone, Tri-Town Against Racism vice president Alison Noyce said that on Sunday morning a community member called TTAR president Tangi Thomas to report evidence of apparent vandalism. The door was torn off and all the books thrown out, many torn up and all of them destroyed by the rain that fell throughout the day.

            “It’s been working out great so it was shocking and devastating that someone (would do this). It also looked like they were trying to take the entire thing out,” said Noyce, who described the hole around the post to be very loose.

            TTAR has a Free Little Diverse Library in two locations so far, Ned’s Point in Mattapoisett and Old Landing off Front Street in Marion, and there are plans for a third in Rochester pending weather’s effects on the ability to dig.

            The libraries, invented for the purpose of book exchange stations between citizens looking to broaden their horizons by reading books that reflect a racially diverse community, have been busy to the point of requiring volunteer management multiple times per week.

            “That little library’s going really well,” said Noyce, alluding to one prior issue with signs that someone tried to bend the door handle. “It didn’t happen on its own. … One of the hinges was broken off, that was the only thing.”

            Noyce says she has had many conversations with citizens who dislike the raised fists in TTAR’s logo, but she continues to stress that the group’s fight is a peaceful one and must remain so.

            “All of the books are donated by community members who believe in our mission of creating an anti-racist community,” she wrote in an email. “We hold tight to our motto ‘Start Where You Live’ and will continue this much needed work in the Tri-Town.”

            The Marion location has seen minor incidences of apparent efforts to remove signage or to leave literature meant to contradict the organization’s message of racial equality. The recent addition of a motion-detecting camera like those used by hunters acts as a deterrent to vandalism, but Noyce said the Marion Police keeps an eye on the library at Old Landing.

            “We’re trying not to be too discouraged, we’re going to get it fixed and restock it,” said Noyce of the Ned’s Point library, noting that similar organizations have reached out in support, including Tabor Academy and representatives of similar grassroots organizations in Wrentham and Plainville. (They told us) “we have books for you and will bring them when you’re ready.” That was reassuring to us.

            “The fact people would want to destroy our Diverse Little Library just shows there’s still a lot of work to be done.”

            According to Lorenco, Craig Collyer, who built the Ned’s Point Little Free Diverse Library mostly from Mattapoisett’s spare building supplies, will be working to make the necessary repairs to the library to bring it back to its original condition.

            “Obviously, it is very disappointing. The library was built by the Town in support of the Tri-Town Against Racism group, and we certainly are upset to hear that it was vandalized,” wrote Lorenco. “If members of the public have any information regarding this act of vandalism, they should contact the Mattapoisett Police Department or the Town Hall.”

By Mick Colageo

            The weather may have been less than ideal on December 18. In fact, all other planned outdoor activities such as tree lightings and caroling were either postponed or cancelled due to cold, rainy conditions. But when you are a land trust and a library in partnership using the woodlands as the backdrop, well then, it’s a rain or shine event.

            So on that cold, dark afternoon, cheerful voices coming from underneath canopies could be heard as a hearty group of Rochester Land Trust members and the Plumb Corner Library’s Youth Services assistant Lisa Fuller gathered to demonstrate how to make winter treats for woodland animals.

            The RLT site located on Marion Road and known as the Church Wildlife Preserve was the location selected for the preholiday event. Also located at this recently opened public space is a Trail Tale, a half-mile trail hike lined with weather-resistant pages from the popular children’s story “Time to Sleep.”

            The children and their grown-up counterparts were studding apples with sunflower seeds, stringing cranberries and even unflavored cereal bits, objects that would be hung throughout the trail and enjoyed by the unseen animals once their human benefactors departed.

            This outdoor learning experience brought together two important assets in the Town of Rochester. Fuller explained the importance of not only offering children new opportunities to explore outdoor spaces but also the importance of giving the library new ways to engage a public increasingly drawn away from brick-and-mortar libraries.

            It was also noted that not just children would enjoy the Trail Tale but also those older folks seeking a bit of fresh air and the renewing qualities of being outdoors. Thus, young and old alike are encouraged to come and read the story-trail pages.

            What they will find is the gentle story of animals preparing to hibernate for the winter. While the story itself does not use the word hibernation, it gives the small children a new understanding of just what many animals are doing during the long, cold winter months – sleeping.

            In Denise Fleming’s story, she has bear smelling the air which “smells like winter is coming.” Bear wants to help her friend Snail so she tells Snail that winter is coming. What proceeds is a chain going from Snail to Skunk to Turtle to Woodchuck to Lady Bug and then back to Bear, who is slightly annoyed by Lady Bug when she awakens her to declare, “Winter is coming, Bear!”

            The book notes the signs of spring as well, deepening for small children the understanding of how the seasons change. Through the animals who see leaves change color and fall to the ground, geese migrating overhead and days getting shorter, youngsters get the message of seasons in transition.

            It is a uniquely interactive experience with a bit of the surprise along the Trail Tale and perfectly suited for all ages. It will be up through January 3.

            To learn more about events planned by the Rochester Land Trust, visit rochesterlandtrust.org, and to learn more about Plumb Corner Library, visit plumblibrary.com.

The Rochester Land Trust and Plumb Library

By Marilou Newell

A December 20 fire that caused an estimated $300,000 in damages to an engine-repair business and connected residence owned by John Menezes appeared to have started in the garage near a heater, according to a press release distributed by Mattapoisett Fire Chief Andrew Murray.

            There were no injuries as the residential unit was unoccupied at the time, but three people, Trevor McDonald and his six- and four-year-old sons lost everything, according to McDonald’s brother Toby Gonsalves, who explained that McDonald was at work while his younger son was with his grandmother and his older son in school.

            “They’re living at our parents’ house with me and my younger brother. It’s a pretty packed house, but we’re making do,” said Gonsalves. “They had just moved in, probably for the last five months or so. The market around here has been pretty tough.”      The family’s pet rabbits are also in the care of locally-based relatives.

            According to the press release, the Mattapoisett Fire Department was dispatched on Monday at approximately 8:36 am to 3 Church Street Extension. Murray, who told The Wanderer he had passed by the location several minutes before the call and noticed no evidence of trouble, arrived on the scene two minutes after the dispatch call and reported heavy fire and smoke. Engine 1 also arrived at 8:38 am and began suppressing the fire.

            A second alarm brought three engines from Mattapoisett, one fire engine from Marion and one fire engine and one ladder from Fairhaven, and the fire chiefs from both neighboring towns responded to assist at the scene. The Rochester Fire Department also responded by sending a fire engine for coverage to the Mattapoisett Fire Station.

            An employee of Mattapoisett Power Equipment, the small-engine repair facility at 3 Church Street Extension executed a “stop, drop and roll” maneuver to put out the fire on his clothing. Evaluated at the scene, the employee required no further treatment according to the press release.

            Fuels, oil and other flammable materials in the garage added to the challenge of extinguishing “heavy fire” that came from the garage, breezeway and rear of the structure. It took approximately 50 minutes and 22 firefighters to bring the blaze under control. The last fire unit cleared the scene at 12:50 pm.

            The Red Cross was immediately called in to assist, and the McDonalds become the beneficiary of gift cards purchased with funds from an anonymous benefactor’s previous donation to the Town of Mattapoisett that was earmarked for assistance in a such a time of need.

            Gonsalves, 23, started a GoFundMe account for his older brother, and the McDonald Family Fire Fund account has been set up to receive donations at Eastern Bank in Marion.

            “People have been getting in touch with us through friends and family, coming by and dropping stuff off,” said Gonsalves. “It’s unbelievable how the community has come together, we can’t believe it.”

            Those wishing to provide financial assistance can visit Eastern Bank, 340 Front Street, in Marion or donate online at: gofundme.com/f/help-trevor-finley-and-theo.

By Mick Colageo and Marilou Newell