Front Street Station Takes Center Stage

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            The emphasis of the update provided by Kent Nichols of Weston & Sampson to the Marion Select Board on the Front Street Pumping Station is seeking solutions within the confines of available funding programs.

            As the town pours over its expensive infrastructural challenges, Tuesday night’s Select Board meeting became an occasion to hear from Nichols and from the Department of Public Works, Meghan Davis and Nathaniel Munafo.

            Nichols said that the update follows up on Marion’s Creek Road pumping station, having landed a grant for the Front Street pumping station from Coastal Zone Management.

            The sewer station built in 1970 and upgraded in 2004 sits on the Tabor Academy campus. It is the largest sewer station in town and being 500 feet from shore is extremely vulnerable to coastal flooding that results from coastal storms.

            Nichols told the Select Board members that the big challenge is providing a much-needed bypass, without which failure at the final point of confluence for all town sewage flows could cripple the town.

            Although elevated, said Nichols, the Front Street station would not withstand new flood projections as a 100-year storm would raise water 16.6 feet, well beyond what the 8-foot ground elevation is built to handle.

            Crucial to the station’s future is a permanent bypass connection that in the case of a catastrophic event would allow town sewer to run from the force main. Marion does not have the portable pumps. The goal, said Nichols, is to reduce the risk of failure by replacing the force main’s inoperable valve.

            The project schedule presented includes: Phase 1 and future Phase 2 preliminary design from November 2021 to December 2021; Phase 1 final design in January 2022; bidding of Phase 1 construction contract from February 2022 to March 2022; construction of Phase 1 from March 2022 to June 2022; and project completion in June 2022.

            Select Board Chairman Norm Hills asked how long must the system be down in order to cut in a replacement valve. Kent said that safely, it would be down between four and six hours.

            A grant from the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management is funding 75 percent of the project with Marion matching 25 percent.

            Munafo credited Weston & Sampson for being ahead of its schedule.

            In a 6:30 pm appointment, the Select Board voted to approve Harbormaster Isaac Perry’s request for a change in the Waterways Regulations under No. 7 to add “existing commercial permits may be transferred to marine businesses with the approval of the harbormaster.”

            According to Perry, the proposed changes to the commercial mooring regulations is “very simply, housekeeping.” Perry told the board that this is how commercial permits have been handled since the inception of regulations in 1984.

            In a 6:15 pm appointment, the Select Board voted to approve Police Chief Richard Nighelli’s promotion of Jeffrey Habicht as a full-time police lieutenant, Connor Flynn as a full-time patrol officer, and Sergeant Sean Day and Sergeant Larry Savery as full-time sergeants. Nighelli told the board that Habicht has been instrumental in guiding the department through police reform.

            The board also approved the appointment of Paul J. St. Don to the Cemetery Commission. The other two members are Chairperson Margie Baldwin and Helen Hills.

            In his Town Administrator’s Report, McGrail updated the board on the annual Town Meeting timeline: the deadline for warrant articles is Tuesday, March 15; the warrant will be closed on April 5, sent to the printer and posted on April 6, and finally mailed to residents on April 20. Town Meeting is scheduled for May 9.

            While forecasting that open house and Town Meeting preview dates will be available at the February 1 Select Board meeting, McGrail noted that developer Matt Zuker gave Marion the go-ahead to spend the rest of the $50,000 he funded in relation to the planned residential development for which he sought a zoning change last year to be voted down at Town Meeting.

            Due to concerns over speeding in Marion village, McGrail has formed a traffic-advisory group including himself, Davis, Habicht and town residents including a Tabor Academy representative. At Select Board member John Waterman’s suggestion, McGrail renamed the group a “pedestrian safety group.” The group has hired a consultant to help facilitate its goal to find solutions.

            McGrail reported that Town Counsel Jon Witten endorsed Hills’ idea to ask the towns elected boards to include the Select Board when adopting new policies. Waterman thinks the idea will have greater success with a “tickler system” in which town offices will regularly communicate with boards and committees to ask if there is anything that the Select Board would want to know.

            The Marion Fire Department is receiving $14,750 to help replace expiring gear. Fire Chief Brian Jackvony was thanked for his work in applying for the state grant. The board also voted to accept a donation of $100 to the Marion Fire Department from Robert and Barbara Sanderson.

            McGrail and Finance Director Judy Mooney are preparing a FY23 budget presentation for the Finance Committee on Wednesday, January 26, after which budget hearings will commence. McGrail hopes that the Select Board and Finance Committee can attend departmental meetings.

            One area that McGrail anticipates a budgetary strain is via the police reform that resulted in reclassification of employees.

            The Old Rochester Regional assessment is expected next week.

            Under Action Items, McGrail said that a “complicated problem” at 889 Point Road regarding the responsibility of repairs needs more information and time to sort out. Munafo will consult with Weston & Sampson engineers on the matter, and the item will be on the Select Board’s February 1 meeting agenda.

            The Select Board also approved the ABCC annual report (liquor licenses) and a Water/Sewer commitment of $344.52 for final readings on January 5.

            Passed over were sewer connection applications at 390 Wareham Road and 16 Briggs Lane. Both applicants were recommended to schedule appointments with Munafo.

            Prior to the public meeting, the board held an executive session to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining with the Marion Police Brotherhood.

            The next meeting of the Marion Select Board is scheduled for Tuesday, February 1, at 6:00 pm.

Marion Select Board

By Mick Colageo

Tabor Hosts MLK Day Climate Discussion

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            On January 17, Tabor Academy celebrated the themes of diversity and inclusion with daylong virtual programming that featured various aspects of climate change either directly or obliquely.

            Speakers included Marion’s own Dr. Jennifer Francis as well as graphic designer and illustrator Michael LaRiccia, hip hop poet and musician Tem Blessed, and keynote speaker Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, marine biologist, policy expert and bestselling author. The program was hosted by Loraine Snead, director of Equity and Inclusion.

            The Wanderer sat in during Johnson’s hour-long interview-style discussion with Tabor students Layla Silva and Javar Williams, along with Tabor faculty members Joseph Cassaista, director of Marine Science, and Tamar Cunha, Science Department chair.

            Johnson began her comments saying that her educational path had been broad in scope, not specifically heading her into a career as a marine scientist. Upon reflection, Johnson said that she is glad her education has in fact been broad-based. “It exposed me to a wide variety of subject matter.” She said that during her high school years in Brooklyn, New York, she had never considered that it was on the coast. “I just thought of it as a concrete jungle.”

            On the subject of climate change and racially driven inequity, Johnson said, “Think about the carbon footprint of poor people and people of color, it is small.” She told of her father’s life in Jamaica and the loss of fishing opportunities due to over-harvesting. He also talked to her about the negative impact on the Jamaican ecosystems from tourism. These stories would echo through Johnson’s formative years, leaving life-long impressions that would eventually help her crystalize what path she needed to take.

            As the childhood years went by, years when Johnson would think, “maybe I’ll be a lawyer or maybe I’ll be a park ranger or maybe I’ll be a scientist,” she didn’t receive any special education in marine studies. Today she said she is really all those things she dreamed about. She marveled at the abundance of opportunity that Tabor Academy offers in this area of study and yet she also believes English is equally as important.

            When asked about Dr. Martin Luther King’s position regarding the environment, Johnson responded, “He connected poor people with black rights. There are overlapping concerns. I often think about poor communities and communities of color along the coast … we need to train the next generation, the children from those communities. We need so much diversity; it’s valuable because it does matter who is making the decisions … throw open the doors to all youth.

            “Ocean conservation is a puzzle with many parts. … It’s scary and exciting to think about harvesting all our ideas.”

            And to do that, Johnson knows it will require a diverse and inclusive group. “They can all be part of the solution – it is possible, students will shape the future.”

            One exciting project Johnson mentioned is an initiative for ocean farming. She said that when the framers of the Green New Deal were drafting that document, the ocean was almost completely left out. That inspired Johnson and others to write the Blue New Deal to address the needs of the ocean. She believes with the right set of intentions and support, ocean farming could be a reality, one that would decrease methane emissions.

            Circling back to her comments about English, Johnson told the students to write everything down. “I learned you don’t have to wait to be invited. Voice your ideas, let them get traction through writing,” she said.

            When considering diversity, Johnson said for her it is far more expansive than black and white. “Diversity includes age, color, gender, rich, poor, it’s diversity beyond race.” She said all they have to do to find out who is missing from the conservation is look around.

            When asked what Tabor and the community could do now to help fight climate change, Johnson’s response was as broad-based as her education had been – composting and bike lanes came to her mind. She also thought being involved in local politics, knowing what local leaders believe about climate change, is critical.

            “You have power, power of your voice, power of your vote, power of your money and power in your networks,” she said. And lastly, “Encourage people to vote.”

By Marilou Newell

ORR Debate Team

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The Old Rochester Regional High School debate team is halfway through their debate season. The team has been facing other schools on the Southcoast of Massachusetts via ZOOM. This year’s topic centers around answering the question, “Should the United States Federal Government substantially increase its protection of water resources?” Students take sides on the topic, often choosing a side that may not be their own personal opinion.

            Senior debate partners Mackenzie Wilson and Edward Gonet IV are on the “affirmative” team, arguing that the U.S. should increase its protection of water resources. The pair, currently undefeated, center their argument around the protection of water on Native American lands and how the infrastructure is in need of significant repair.

            Senior debate partners Maxwell Vivino and Samuel Harris are on the “negative” team and have to refute all of the affirmative arguments. Common claims that negatives have to make this year are that the proposals are too expensive or that the government would be better spending their money on different water projects.

            No matter what side, the students all enjoy the debate team. Sophomore Jaymison Gunschel explains, “Besides helping with obvious public speaking and argument skills, debate really helps foster and grow critical thinking and problem-solving skills outside of the competition itself. “Furthermore,” senior Mackenzie Wilson states, “I was so excited to finally take on my senior year of debate! So far, my partner and I are undefeated in the southeast Massachusetts debate league and are hoping for a straight shot into the finals. We’ve worked so hard throughout these past four years and for it finally to pay off during our senior year would be an amazing accomplishment!” We wish the team the best of luck in their final half of the year.

Marion Booster Clinic

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The Marion Board of Health with the help of Marion EMS will be hosting a Moderna

COVID-19 Booster Clinic for those who received two doses of Moderna vaccine at least six months ago, two doses of Pfizer vaccine at least five months ago, and one dose of J&J vaccine  least two months ago. You do not need to be a Marion resident to attend.

            The clinic will be held on Friday, January 21 at the Benjamin D. Cushing Community Center (Council on Aging,) 465 Mill Street (Rt. 6,) Marion, from 10 am to 11 am. The clinic will be indoors. Please bring your vaccination card and wear a short-sleeve shirt. There are a limited number of doses available. You will need to preregister if you would like to attend. Use the link provided below to register for the clinic or online at marionma.gov on the Board of Health page.  You will need your insurance card and the date of your last vaccine to register.

            Link: home.color.com/vaccine/register/marion?calendar=90d79558-f977-46cb-9e84-                 9c498ca3bd06

            If you have any questions or need assistance with registration, contact Maureen at the Board of Health at 508-748-3530.

Marion Community Preservation Committee

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Applications for Community Preservation Act funding are now available in the Town Clerk’s office at the Marion Town House located at 2 Spring Street. The Community Preservation Act is a Massachusetts Law that allows participating cities and towns to adopt a real estate tax surcharge supplemented by State matching funds in order to fund community preservation. Eligible projects must be directed towards: open space/recreation, historic preservation or community housing. Applications must be received no later than 4:00 pm on February 4 to be considered for presentation at the May 2022 Annual Town Meeting.

            Past Community Preservation funds have been used to:

            •Design of an accessible boardwalk and viewing platform at Osprey Marsh.

            •Secure nine affordable housing units having affordable housing deed restrictions for ninety-nine (99) years.

            •Design and secure permits for Phase I of the Marion Pathway (bike path.)

            •Protect Marion’s drinking water supply through the purchase of lands and conservation interests in the Mattapoisett River Valley.

            •Catalogue the Sippican Historical Society’s archives and complete the town’s architectural survey.

            •Restore the Marion Town House

            •Purchase and install inclusive playground equipment at the Sippican School.

            •Purchase cast aluminum grave markers to be placed on veterans’ graves at town cemeteries

DPW Sewer Requests Reach $1,501,000

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            Department of Public Works Director Nathaniel Munafo completed his list of capital requests, laying out the needs of Marion’s Sewer Division before the Capital Improvements Planning Committee on January 5.

            Sewer is far and away the town’s weightiest infrastructure, as large residential developments in the works depend on its expansion and modernization and vice versa for much-needed revenue via new ratepayers.

            Munafo’s FY23 Sewer Division capital requests total $1,501,000, $1,000,000 of which is taken up by his first two requests for the $750,000 FY23 grant match for the replacement of the Creek Road Station and the $250,000 request for FY23 force-main design for the Front Street Station.

            Creek Road is Marion’s second largest sewer station and services homes on gravity sewer and hundreds of other homes via pumps. Approximately half of the town’s sewer users rely in some manner on Creek Road. Munafo calls it the “highest priority” because the station is “extremely close to the water and at risk in a coastal event.”

            The station was designed in the late 1960s and installed in 1970.

            Even without a flood event, said Munafo, Creek Road Station is highly likely to leak, and there have already been instances where water rains down on controls and equipment multiple levels deep.

            The town has received a Coastal Zone Management (CZM) grant and is ready to build. DPW engineer Meghan Davis and office manager Becky Tilden have been working toward the hopeful procurement of a BRIC grant, and a MEMA and FEMA grant would allow 75 percent of the $3,000,000 project to be funded. Marion is required to post a $750,000 (25 percent) match. The remainder of the necessary funding would have to come from other sources.

            CIPA Chairman Paul Naiman asked about borrowing to fund the project. Munafo said the project is presently in the state revolving funds queue for this year but that borrowing has not been ruled out. Representative William Straus is looking into alternative funding sources. The federal government will now allow the usage of ARPA funds to match other federal grants.

            “(ARPA) is a new grant … they’re making up these rules as they go,” said Munafo.

            CIPC member Steve Nojeim asked if, in the case of no grant approval, can the project be spread over multiple years? “Yes, but it’s a quick project, shouldn’t take more than nine months to get it done,” answered Munafo.

            According to Select Board member John Waterman, developer Ken Steen has agreed to pay 10 percent of the net cost for sewer infrastructure. “But his project is not moving very fast,” said Waterman, noting that developer Matt Zuker’s project that was rejected at Town Meeting may see a new application. “Then we’ll be looking to him to chip in.”

            Richard Giberti asked about the plan and referenced Hurricane Carol in 1954. Waterman said that CDM Smith did a resiliency report on coastal vulnerability, noting that five other pumping stations go through Creek Road Station. Munafo said that a 50-year storm (11.5 foot surge) would require total reconstruction of the station.

            The other $501,000 in Sewer Division requests is divided up between an inflow-infiltration (I/I) removal program ($200,000,) F350 4×4 truck ($75,000,) Silvershell Station assessment ($50,000,) high-flow management plan ($40,000,) bio-filter media replacement ($40,000,) generator replacement ($36,000,) SCADA (WPCF computer system,) replacement ($35,000) and force main evaluations ($25,000.)

            Naiman expected the CIPC membership to turn in its comprehensive priorities of all departments’ capital requests by Wednesday (January 12) with a plan to meet on Wednesday, January 19 and hope to have a letter ready to deliver to the Select Board on January 26.

            The deadline for the town report is February 4. Then there will be a meeting with the Select Board in early February for the CIPC to present its findings.

            In answer to CIPC member Bill Marvel’s question as to how Munafo’s requests fit Marion’s comprehensive wastewater management plan, Waterman said that nothing in the requests this year is inconsistent with the CWMP.

            While acknowledging the importance of new sewer ratepayers to the town’s economy, Naiman noted that there is a cost to the town as well.

            Waterman said the town cannot afford $28,000,000 for a 10-year sewer-improvement plan. When Lagoon No. 1 is lined and completed, the debt will be up 50 percent to $29,000,000, he said, and anything borrowed will drive up rates. Thus, the need for grants, ARPA funding, etc.

            Steen, whose 120-unit, affordable-housing project will be located off Route 6 near the Wareham town line, will write Marion a check for $1,000,000 for I/I removal, and Waterman hopes that Zuker’s adjacent Route 6 project will revive and generate $50,000 for an infrastructure study.

            Noting that developer Sherman Briggs was going to pay Marion $280,000, Waterman said that the biggest issue is the Wastewater Treatment Plant  which is maxed out at 588,000 gallons per day. Reducing I/I, he said, is the best way to gain new capacity.

            In the February meeting of the Water/Sewer Commissioner (Select Board,) public comment will be invited.

Marion Capital Improvements Planning Committee

By Mick Colageo

Happy New Year from Rochester Historical Society

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While we are taking a break from meetings for the winter, anyone who would like to view the current exhibit may visit by appointment (call 508-295-8908.) The exhibit will also be available in the spring. We will be resuming activities in April with our first meeting on April 20 at 7:00. Look for more info in The Wanderer as the date approaches.

            We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have supported us through the past year. Stay well and we hope to see you in the spring.

ABC Planning to Sell Trash Company

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            Trash company ABC Disposal Service, Inc. notified the Rochester Board of Health during the latter’s January 5 meeting that it has filed an application with the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Board of Health to increase the capacity of its facility.

            ABC seeks approval of a modification from a maximum daily cap of 890 to 1,500 tonnage over its 61.15 acres at 4850 Cranberry Highway, but accompanying that request was news that the company’s owners plan to sell. “We want to build the company up, you can’t build the company up if you can’t get rid of the trash,” said ABC, Inc. vice president and CEO Michael Camara. “So we decided to sell the company.”

            Camara reported that, as of last week, 20 percent of the company’s staff was out with Covid-19.

            ABC, Inc. said it has also notified Wareham and Middleboro boards of health of the request as required because the site sits within a half-mile of those towns.

            The next step in the process of the application for expansion is a three-week window for public comment, a DEP site-suitability report. Once that result is positive, then within 30 days the matter goes up to the Rochester Board of Health for a public hearing. A hearing officer (umpire) will participate, and after the Board of Health determines yes or no, then any conditions will be assigned to a positive decision at the prescribed site.

            A fee structure will be established to reimburse the Board of Health.

            Souza said he spoke with members of the Rochester Fire Department and received a positive reaction. He expects permitting to go through. “It’s a tough industry to keep clean, somebody’s always going to complain about something,” he said. “I drive up there every once in a while and I never come out with a flat tire, but that’s all you ever hear.”

            Rochester Health Director Karen Walega asked Camara about rain issues and the recent fire at the facility. Camara explained that a pile of trash that grew to a height exceeding the building’s lights ignited after a light bulb broke. He credited Eddie Costello with digging down to the bottom to extinguish the fire. Total Quality Logistics (TQL) helped move the trash.

            “I don’t think we can stop the storage outside,” said Camara, who said trash is being kept at least 10 feet away from the building.

            ABC’s glass-recycling system has also been affected because of the shutdown of another company in the processing chain. Camara said that the DEP let ABC store its glass out back. The company wanted to recycle it but now must pay to get rid of it.

            Glass is typically recycled into sandblasting material. Camara estimates that the enormous amount of glass will all be taken away from ABC’s site over the next six to eight months.

            Board of Health Chairman Dave Souza told the ABC representatives in attendance that he was glad to hear a professional approach was being taken to the problem, especially considering the request for an increase in maximum tonnage allowed at the site.

            Camara told the board that ABC, as of last week, had 17 drivers out and that he and other company leaders have joined the driving ranks. “Having them see you out there driving is good for morale,” said Camara. “Fortunately, our mechanics can drive, the general manager can drive, I can drive.”

            The board ratified the recent Select Board vote in favor of the mask mandate implemented at the Senior Center at the request of the Council on Aging. The COA has since shut down until January 18 due to the rise in Covid-19 cases, per the Select Board’s vote on January 3.

            “They’re the ones that made the (mask-mandate) decision in the beginning, and that should be their decision all the way through,” said Souza. “I don’t like the decision. We’re aware of the decision.”

            Board member Glenn Lawrence voted against the ratification, but member Sarah Tisdale Eby voted in favor so the board officially ratified the Select Board’s approval of the mask mandate at the COA by a 2-1 margin.

            The Board of Health announced a total FY23 budget of $84,727, up from $83,004 in FY22.

            Walega reported progress at 514 Front Street, where two cars have been removed and the family is working on removal of the boat at the site. The local boy scouts have volunteered to participate in the cleanup.

            According to Walega, a grant from Massachusetts Health Association could lead to the town purchasing Covid-19 test kits from the state for residents’ use.

            In her report to the board, Public Health Nurse Connie Dolan said that, as of January 5, Rochester had 170 active Covid-19 cases, a decrease from close to 200 only two days prior. Of the 170 active cases, 90 people infected had been at least partially vaccinated. Dolan said many had had only one dose or two doses but not the booster shot.

            To date, Rochester has had 1,081 official Covid-19 cases, but Dolan qualified that those statistics do not take into account rapid home tests. For statistical purposes, antigen (rapid) tests are not official cases. Official cases are always PCR test. “I’ve been getting a lot of calls, it’s time to do a little information push,” said Dolan.

            Where it concerns Covid-19 testing, antigen tests are “great for surveillance,” said Dolan, but the state says a positive antigen test should follow up with a PCR test.

            “An awful lot of cases now are partially if not fully vaccinated so I think it’s time to do a lot of communication on the difference between the tests,” said Dolan, indicated that all the guidance is on the town’s Facebook page and website.

            “Connie’s right on the money. We need to get the information out there. It’s still 10 days (isolation for a positive test), just five if you’re full (vaccination) and masked,” said Tisdale Eby, who was attending the meeting remotely because her son had tested positive.

            Dolan said that the infectious period for tracking begins the two days before the onset of symptoms (highest bio load) so those two days and the next two days are the most contagious.

            Dolan reported that Police Chief Robert Small asked for boosters for officers, citing close-contact issues. Dolan credited Mattapoisett Public Health Nurse Emily Field for the small handful of boosters that fulfilled the police chief’s request.

            The next meeting of the Rochester Board of Health was not scheduled at adjournment.

Rochester Board of Health

By Mick Colageo

Academic Achievements

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            Alexa Mcloed of Marion, Kennedy Serpa of Marion and Jacob Yeomans of Marion have been named to the 2021 Fall Dean’s List at the University of Connecticut.

To qualify for the Dean’s List, students must have a semester grade point average of 3.50 or better and must have completed successfully all courses for which they were registered.

            Maxwell Brulport of Rochester, Jillian Craig of Marion, Kevin Ovian of Rochester, Aidan Ridings of Mattapoisett and Ainslee Rodrigues of Mattapoisett have been named to the Fall 2021 Dean’s List at Stonehill College. To qualify for the Dean’s List, students must have a semester grade point average of 3.50 or better and must have completed successfully all courses for which they were registered.

            Ana Amaral Lavoie, Undeclared major, has been named to the Dean’s List for the fall 2021 semester at the University of Vermont. Amaral Lavoie from Marion is in the College of Arts and Sciences. To be named to the Dean’s List, students must have a grade-point average of 3.0 or better and rank in the top 20 percent of their class in their respective college or school.

            Megan Iverson of Marion and Jason Gamache of Mattapoisett graduated from the University of New Hampshire in December 2021. Students are only graduated after the Registrar’s Office has certified that all degree requirements have been successfully completed. Participating in the commencement ceremony is the act of honoring and celebrating academic achievement.

            Assumption University has announced Mackenzie Drew of Rochester, Class of 2022, and Joseph Dumas of Mattapoisett, Class of 2025 named to the Dean’s List for the fall 2021 semester. Students named to the University’s Dean’s List must achieve a grade point average of 3.5 for a five-class, 15-credit semester to be included on the prestigious list, which is announced at the completion of the fall and spring semesters.

TTAR Focused on Middle

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In addressing Tuesday night’s Tri-Town Against Racism virtual Town Hall Meeting, Jason Chisholm told Zoom attendees, “We’re very aware of those individuals who are against what we’re trying to do. We’re also aware of those who stand beside us. … I want to focus energy on the group in the middle, not with us and not against us, standing on the sideline and contemplating where they’re going to land.”

            For nearly two years, the grassroots organization has been on a mission to affect change via diplomatic policies such as “meet people where they are” and “educate,” and the journey has not always been smooth.

            The incident of vandalism last month in Mattapoisett, where the Little Free Diverse Library at Ned’s Point was heavily damaged and its contents destroyed became an occasion symbolic of the question many have been asked over the past two years as to where they stand.

            In expanding upon his statement about focus, Chisholm, the group’s executive director, alluded to author Brene Brown’s analogy differentiating between empathy and allyship. Empathy, he relayed, is where a person seeing someone stuck in the hole says, “I feel bad that you’re in that hole.” Allyship, seeing someone stuck in the hole, climbs into the hole with them and says, “Hey, we’re going to figure out how to get out together.”

            Alison Noyce, the vice president of Tri-Town Against Racism, said the organization believes in allyship for all. “We want to make all people feel like they’re included and they belong,” she said.

            Noyce was one of the ground-floor parents who, amidst sharing her stories with other parents on social media, was compelled to help organize as a group and seek solutions in a group setting with the emotional and intellectual benefit of like-minded support.

            “At that point we didn’t all know each other, but we all knew we had to do something,” said member Jenn Hunter, who serves as treasurer.

            The Town Hall fielded approximately 10 pre-submitted questions, different members compelled to speak to them.

            In addressing a question about the vandalism at the Little Free Diverse Library, Tri-Town Against Racism President Tangi Thomas found a silver lining. “We found out how much people care about our Little Diverse Library,” she said, talking about how much she enjoys going to the post office and seeing the new book arrivals that are earmarked for the Little Free Diverse Library.

            Rhonda Baptiste, one of the organization’s many directors who originally was involved by supporting her son Kelcey Robertson’s effort to supply school libraries with books reflecting racial diversity, fielded the question, “How can parents talk to their kids about racism?”

            “Racism is treating people unfairly or unkindly. An ally is a friend who stands up for a friend if they’re being treated unfairly or unkindly,” said Baptiste, who believes the key to teaching empathy is to teach children to look outside of themselves. “Stories are one of the best ways. When we read, what we do is we put ourselves in the shoes of the person in the story.”

            Baptiste encouraged listeners to create a culture in their house and family of kindness and compassion and to take steps to acknowledge and reward such behavior “because, if it’s a priority for you, it’ll be priority for them. … Let your kids see that you care because if you care, they’re going to care.”

            Several other questions were tackled, and Noyce was excited to discuss local partnerships with the Marion Art Center, Mattapoisett Museum and Sippican Lands Trust.

            More activities are planned for 2022, and members hope some of them can be held in person. It was noted by Noyce that the emergence of Tri-Town Against Racism and its ongoing work have been accomplished entirely during the coronavirus pandemic.

            “This is a standing invitation, please spread the word,” said Chisholm in concluding the meeting.

            He invited interested people to learn more about Tri-Town Against Racism on the organization’s Facebook and Instagram pages.

By Mick Colageo