Auditions at the MAC

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The Marion Art Center has announced open auditions for all roles in the upcoming production of The Puzzle with the Piazza written by Mark Dunn and directed by Pippa Asker. Due to current MAC policies and for everyone’s safety, only fully-vaccinated actors will be considered for roles. Auditions are scheduled on Saturday, January 8 from 10am-12pm and Sunday, January 9 from 2-4pm at the Marion Art Center, located at 80 Pleasant Street in Marion, MA. Performance dates are Friday, March 11-Sunday, March 13 and Thursday, March 17-Sunday, March 20. All Thursday-Saturday shows will begin at 7:30pm, and Sunday matinees will begin at 2:00pm. Anyone entering the Marion Art Center must wear a mask. Please send any questions to the director at pasker@comcast.net.

            Director Pippa Asker will be casting four females and one male. Roles include: Althea Witlin – woman in her seventies; Leif Morrell – young man, thirties; Connie Morrell (Leif’s wife) – thirties; Mattie Pleshette – young woman, neighbor, in her twenties/thirties; and Ina Gluck – Althea’s sister – early- to mid-seventies.

            Show Synopsis: The Puzzle with the Piazza, a new full-length comedy-drama by Mark Dunn, author of Belles, Five Tellers Dancing in the Rain and The Glitter Girls, tells the story of septuagenarian Althea Witlin who has one jigsaw puzzle among her large collection that she’s never worked. It contains 3,000 pieces, and she has less than a day to finish it because poor health has forced her to move in with her younger sister … without her puzzles. The Puzzle with the Piazza is a gentle, bittersweet comedy/drama about the fragility of family ties and the often much stronger bonds of friendship that lattice the final years of our lives.

            New Mending Workshop in February – The Marion Art Center will offer a new one day workshop, Visible Mending with Sashiko with Instructor Crickett Warner, on Saturday, February 12 from 10:00am-1:00pm. Join the renewed trend of repairing your clothing with beautiful traditional Japanese mending techniques and patterns. First recorded in Japan in the 16th century, peasants repaired worn-out clothing using scraps and layering to make material stronger. Local patterns identified people from different regions. Using thread and needles specifically made for sashiko stitching, most students will complete one patch during the workshop, and some may finish up the last bits at home. Patterns and directions will be provided. Some denim jeans will be available to practice on, but it’s best for students to bring their own (holes not required) so the masterpieces can be worn! The cost for the three-hour workshop is $60 for MAC members and $65 for nonmembers plus a $10 materials fee per student. Registration is open now online. More information including a list of provided materials can be found at marionartcenter.org/adult-classes. 

Laura T. Rusinoski

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Laura T. Rusinoski 96 of Mattapoisett and Rochester passed away peacefully at Newton-Wellesley Hospital on December 19, 2021. Laura was the wife of the late Alexander K. Rusinoski.. She was born and raised in New Bedford, she was one of 6 children of Portuguese immigrants Joaquim and Aurora (Gomes) Teixeira. Laura spoke only Portuguese as a young child and was multi Lingual her entire life.

            She grew up on Deane Street in the North End of New Bedford where she had many Polish and French friends, her love of music and dancing brought her to the Polish Veterans Club where she met her future husband Alexander. Once married she lived in Fairhaven before building a home in Mattapoisett and there she resided until the last three years of her life when she moved to Rochester to live with her daughter Kathy.

            She was a communicant of St. Anthony’s Church in Mattapoisett.

            Laura’s worked at Mass Shirt in New Bedford for 18 years, when her daughter started school, she began working in Mattapoisett Center Schools Cafeteria where she happily remained “A Lunch Lady” for 25 years until she retired in 1993 to care for her ailing husband.

            Laura was a woman of many talents and interests….she loved clothes, style and especially Jewelry. She  took great pride in her appearance and was always dressed to the nines! She was a remarkable seamstress, she also enjoyed knitting and crocheting. She grew strawberries and sold them as well as baking incredible desserts, pies and pastries and made jams with the bounty of her large garden. As the wife of a fisherman she could fillet a fish, shuck scallops and would spend hours pulling the meat out of lobsters and crabs that were caught that day. She was an amazing chef on an old fashioned wood stove making pancakes with her husband every Sunday morning while listening to Polish Happy Time on the radio….when the pancakes were ready it was time to head upstairs to eat and dance some Polka’s in the kitchen.

            Music and dancing was an integral part of Laura’s life, she and her husband attended many Polish Picnics and Polka dances. Even though Laura was Portuguese she was very involved with the Polish Community and was a member of the Polish Veterans club where she and her husband would march in the Polish Section of the Feast Parade. She volunteered at OLPH Polish Church in her later years helping at Grandma’s table and joining the Monday “Pierogi Pinching” crew. Here she made many new friends and also tried her hand at learning to speak Polish which she found to be a challenge, she visited Poland with a group in the 80’s. Laura loved to travel and enjoyed many Caribbean Cruises and trips to Canada and other U.S. destinations. She also travelled to Portugal two times to visit the village in Tras O Monte’s where her family originated from this was a lifelong desire that she was so happy to fulfill.

            Laura made friends wherever she went due to her gentle caring personality, always willing to volunteer her time and always with kind words for all. She was a gentle soul who contributed a lot and asked for little.

            She is survived by her daughter Kathy Ann and her friend Russell J. Mello of Rochester and many nieces and nephews.

            She was the sister of the late Mario Teixeira, Ida Gomez, Elsie Rego, Antone Teixeira and Armand Teixeira.

            Her Mass of Christian Burial with be held on Thursday, December 30th at 10 am at St. Anthonys Church in Mattapoisett. Her burial is private at the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne where she will join her husband Alexander for eternity.

            In Lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Mercy Ships.org www.southcoastchapel.com

TTAR Staying Course in Wake of Vandalism

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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

Campus Center Takes Step Forward

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In a very brief public meeting held on December 14 before the town employees’ holiday party at the Cushing Community Center, the Marion Select Board approved the connection of Tabor Academy’s new Campus Center to town sewer.

            The approval recommended by the Marion Department of Public Works is contingent upon three addendums: a 72-hour advance notice to the DPW for the start of work to connect to the sewer manhole at the site, that Tabor provides the DPW with field-observation notes in the form of full-record drawings as the connection is made and that Tabor restores any disturbed road or sidewalk or ground to the condition it was in prior to the work.

            The third contingency came at the suggestion of Select Board member John Waterman, and Select Board member Randy Parker said it is an appropriate contingency for any such application. “Maybe it’s understood, but sometimes I find that you need to spell things out,” said Waterman.

            All of the associated fees had already been paid by Tabor according to Town Administrator Jay McGrail.

            The December 14 meeting was the last in 2021 for the Marion Select Board which typically meets on the first and third Tuesday of the month. The board did not schedule its first 2022 meeting at adjournment.

Marion Select Board

By Mick Colageo

Teaching through Outdoor Experience

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            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

Marion COA To Pilot Food Pantry Program

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Town Administrator James McGrail and Council on Aging (COA) Director Karen Gregory are pleased to share that the Marion Select Board has approved plans to pilot a food pantry for Marion residents.

            The town is proposing to host the pantry at the Benjamin D. Cushing Community Center beginning in January 2022. The town hopes to open the pantry for a few hours on one weekday, one evening and one weekend day each week to help accommodate residents’ varying schedules.

            Families will be able to visit the pantry once per week and home deliveries will be offered to homebound residents through use of the COA vans.

            The pilot program will begin by offering nonperishable food items. The items will be set up in the Community Center’s conference room in a grocery-store style where residents will be able to select the items they need from the shelves.

            The town is currently looking into food supply options, including a possible partnership with the Gleason YMCA Full Plate Program, which receives food from the Greater Boston Food Bank and other organizations as well as private donations.

            The pantry will be funded through a Gleason YMCA grant, the COA donation account and private donations. It will be administered by Director Gregory and supported by volunteers.

            If the pilot program is successful, future plans could include expanding to Mattapoisett and Rochester, adding perishable food offerings (contingent on storage availability) and working with additional food suppliers.

            “Food security and nutrition is an important matter for the COA and one of the ways in which we aim to enhance the quality of life of community members,” Director Gregory said. “Based on interest and turnout from past initiatives such as food drives and other meal program offerings, we believe this food pantry will be an important addition to our community and will benefit many families.”

            The poverty level in Marion is 4% and rises to 7% among seniors. Currently, there are 805 Marion residents enrolled in MassHealth (as of 2016;) however, only 362 residents receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)/Food Stamp benefits. This 45% gap between residents receiving MassHealth and those receiving SNAP benefits is a key indicator of need in the community. Additional information regarding SNAP benefits, including eligibility and application information can be found at www.mass.gov/snap-benefits-formerly-food-stamps.

            Furthermore, 20-30 students in Marion receive food weekly during the school year through various programs. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Marion’s food distribution program averaged 44 cars per day serving an average of 99 people. According to data from the end of November, the Gleason YMCA in Wareham distributed 331 boxes of pre-selected food items which served 662 people, 279 of which were seniors.

            During the coming weeks, Director Gregory will continue to work with the food pantry’s steering group — Nancy McFadden, Nancy Moore, Paul Naiman, Eric Pierce and COA Outreach Coordinator Gloria Solano – to finalize plans around food supply, logistics, staffing and program administration.

            “Director Gregory and her steering group have done an excellent job planning for this initiative and looking into various food supply and funding sources,” Town Administrator McGrail said. “We are looking forward to launching this needed resource for residents, especially as our community continues to deal with the impacts of the pandemic.”

            An official opening date for the pantry will be shared with community members once confirmed.

Fire Destroys Business, Home

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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

Senior Center Gets Mask Mandate

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            In a reluctant vote, the Rochester Select Board granted the leadership of the town’s Council on Aging its wish by unanimously agreeing Monday night to a mask mandate for the Senior Center on DexterLane.

            Select Board member Paul Ciaburri was most vocal in his hesitancy.

            “I understand where everybody’s coming from, I just don’t like the idea of the mandates. … I don’t know if we really need to mandate,” said Ciaburri. “If the Board of Directors feels that strong about the Council on Aging, I just don’t feel that strongly about mandates. … The finger wagging going on makes people not want to do things. I think we should have a conversation. … We have seniors at risk, I understand that.”

            A December 8 letter from the COA requested the mask mandate for the Senior Center.

            “We’re hoping you would at least consider the Council on Aging. … The numbers (of positive Covid tests) are climbing here in town. We’re hoping that the mask mandate will help control that,” said COA Board of Directors president Pauline Munroe, who represented the council at the meeting along with Mike Cambra, the COA’s vice president.

            “We’re trying to have a program where everybody’s wearing the mask. … Everybody’s looking at it like it’s no big deal. Well it is a big deal,” said Cambra.

            Until December 20, the COA had been posting a sign encouraging people to wear masks.

            “I’m active up there — was there today — they’re concerned. It’s easier for the director if they had our support,” said Select Board member Woody Hartley, who serves on the COA Board of Directors. Noting CDC recommendations, Hartley said, “We don’t want to wait until we’ve lost somebody.”

            Town Counsel Blair Bailey reminded the Select Board that it can authorize protocols for all town buildings. The board was also reminded that at the beginning of the pandemic, the board had said it would respect the Council on Aging’s Board of Directors.

            “It would need the vote of this board and the Board of Health. … I talked to Karen (Walega, Rochester’s health director,) and they said they’d do it as well,” said Bailey. “Given the number of cases in town, they’ve gone up considerably. … That (Senior Center) building was part of the conversation.”

            Karen Thomas, a retired nurse and a senior citizen who attended the meeting, was given the floor and asserted that common practices involving the repeated wearing of and storing of cloth masks are often unsanitary and that requiring people to wear them is against their constitutional rights and in many cases unhealthy.

            “We’re not going to take N95s from the healthcare community,” she said of the industry standard, arguing that the alternatives worn by the general public are failing them.

            Hartley said it is not appropriate for her to say in a Select Board meeting what constitutional law is. Thomas said, “I’m not saying what constitutional law is.”

            “I think the point is at the Senior Center it’s not about having the sniffles,” said Bailey, implying the elevated vulnerability of senior citizens to the coronavirus.

            Hartley made a motion to mandate masks for the Council on Aging at the Senior Center only. “I will second it because it’s at the Senior Center only, I’m against a mask mandate,” said Select Board Chairman Brad Morse. Ciaburri then relented on his opposition and said, “As long as it’s the Senior Center only.”

            All three Select Board members voted “I,” and the mandate carried.

            In her Town Administrator’s Report, Suzanne Szyndlar told the board that March 4 is the deadline for the submission of articles for the May 23 Town Meeting warrant.

            The FY23 budget season has begun, and capital requests are due from department heads by January 17.

            Szyndlar announced a submission of over $100,000 in CARES Act, Covid-related reimbursable expenditures. Rochester’s total to date has reached $904,000, and Szyndlar credited Assistant Accountant Kathy Mchenry for “a great job” in preparing and processing the town’s many invoices for CARES Act submissions.

            Municipalities will transition to the new ARPA funding program with Rochester’s potential apportionment capped at $1,700,000.

            Bailey suggested asking town departments to build in a buffer in their individual requests “because everything keeps going up in costs. … If we don’t use it, we don’t use it.”

            In other public-session business, the board voted to approve the appointment of Travis Lalli to the Rochester Agricultural Commission. Morse abstained from the vote, citing that his and Lalli’s farms are adjacent to one another.

            Before the board entered executive session to discuss negotiations with union and nonunion personnel and did not return to open session, Szyndlar addressed the January meeting schedule, noting that the board’s second meeting of 2022 would fall on January 17, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The board agreed to meet instead on Monday, January 24.

            The next meeting of the Rochester Select Board is scheduled for Monday, January 3, at 6:00 pm.

Rochester Select Board

By Mick Colageo

First Congregational Church of Marion

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The local community, as well as all members and friends of the First Congregational Church of Marion, are invited to attend a traditional 7:00 pm Christmas Eve Service in our historic church. Given the interest in attending, this service expressed by many of the new visitors during the Christmas Stroll last Sunday, it is hoped that we will see many new faces Christmas Eve.

            The traditional service will follow the format of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols that was presented at King’s College, Cambridge on Christmas Eve 1918 to offer solace to people who were distressed, exhausted, injured and, in many cases, bereaved at the end of the First World War. The service includes nine scripture readings interspersed with Christmas carols and special music and has been offered every year since 1918. 

            In this pandemic year many people are experiencing some of these same realities and feelings that many were experiencing at the time the service was started at King’s College. While World War I, despite the pain and suffering, did give people a great sense of togetherness and community, the current pandemic forces people to be isolated, distanced, and anxious. During the service, Pastor Rich will lead us in a prayer for health as well as peace over the whole earth and to remember the isolated as well as the lonely and unloved. Alongside the oppressed, prayers will also be said for the exploited and the abused.

William L. “Bill” Harris

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William L. “Bill” Harris, 64, of New Bedford, MA passed away unexpectedly at his residence on December 17, 2021. He was born to the late Harry W. and Helen C. Harris (Costa) in New Bedford, MA on October 24, 1957.

            Bill grew up in Mattapoisett, MA and graduated from Old Rochester High School in 1975. He had various jobs but his last job that he enjoyed was working at the Mattapoisett Boat Yard, helping to pull the boats in and out of the water. He also enjoyed fishing, spending time with friends and family loved walking the neighborhood and feeding the various animals around his home and his daily coffee run to Dunkin. He always went above and beyond to all that knew him and love to be a prankster and make you laugh.

            He is survived by his Sisters; Ellen Hall, and Elizabeth Harris both of New Bedford, MA, his niece’s; Brandy Hall of New Bedford, MA, and Scarlite Leighton of New Bedford, MA. His close friend Nikki Canfeild and her 3 boys; Clayten, Caiden, and Carson Viveiros, all of New Bedford, MA. He is preceded in passing by his Nephew Scott Hall in 2019. And his sister Peggy Lagasse.

            Visitation will be held Thursday, December 23 from 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm at Rock Funeral Home, 1285 Ashley Blvd, New Bedford, MA with funeral service at 4:00 pm.