Friends of Old Rochester Music

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To the Editor;

            Music and arts have been the hardest hit and longest shuttered factions of our society during this pandemic. The impacts are paralleled in our local school departments. Music students have been restricted from ultimately life affirming IRL experiences where harmony and collaboration are key components. 

            DESE guidelines were updated as of March 1, and for the first time in our 2020-2021 district calendar we will begin to implore the school department to roll out the changes and support our students in compliance. The momentum has been building for the students, teachers, and parents whose “sport” is music, and with only three months left in the school year, there is still so much to be done.

            Friends of Old Rochester Music (FORM) is the nonprofit booster group benefitting music students in the JHS and HS, and we raise money for student enrichment activities, travel expenses, instruments, competition expenses, and scholarships for graduating seniors. This year we have had zero practices, which translates to zero performances, which translates to zero commercial ads sold for concert programs, zero ticket sold, and zero opportunity for the magic that happens when a musical group collaborates in front of a live audience. There is something about live music that inspires love and compassion and connectedness. Personal, real time contactless contact.

Rica Brodo, FORM President

The views expressed in the “Letters to the Editor” column are not necessarily those of The Wanderer, its staff or advertisers. The Wanderer will gladly accept any and all correspondence relating to timely and pertinent issues in the great Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester area, provided they include the author’s name, address and phone number for verification. We cannot publish anonymous, unsigned or unconfirmed submissions. The Wanderer reserves the right to edit, condense and otherwise alter submissions for purposes of clarity and/or spacing considerations. The Wanderer may choose to not run letters that thank businesses, and The Wanderer has the right to edit letters to omit business names. The Wanderer also reserves the right to deny publication of any submitted correspondence.

Marion to Update Affordable Housing Goals

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            The Marion Affordable Housing Trust is taking steps to assess its progress since 2015 on procuring opportunities for affordable housing in town. On March 9, the trust met with Eric Arbeene from the Southeastern Regional Planning & Economic Development District (SRPEDD) to review the 2015 Marion Housing Plan and learned that, despite having accomplished very little listed in that plan, the town will nonetheless exceed its 10 percent state-mandated quota for affordable housing.

            Trust members acknowledged that affordable housing is a sensitive subject for some Marion residents, and community perception is often just one of the many constraints that obstruct affordable housing developments in communities.

            “With 40B,” Arbeene said, “some people just tense right up and they don’t know what it is …” Arbeene’s pre-meeting research revealed to him that a 40B development, the proposed Heron Cove off Wareham Road, was currently before the Zoning Board of Appeals, and this latest expanded 120-unit development would put Marion at about 13 percent affordable housing.

            The town is also engaging a consultant to assess town-owned properties such as the Community Center parcel donated to the town from the VFW exclusively for senior housing, while the demographics support a growing need for senior housing in Marion.

            According to Arbeene, the population in Marion has barely increased since 2000, but the composition of the population surely has. The 60-plus “retirement age” population has increased from 22.7 percent in 2000 to 34.1 percent in 2019, while school enrollment at Sippican School has decreased by 16 percent over the past decade. Just over 44 percent of Marion households include a person age 65 or over, and 25.7 percent of those households are single-person.

            The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has classified households that spend over 30 percent of their income on housing as “cost-burdened” households, and in Marion 30 percent of households are classified as cost-burdened. Of those cost-burdened households, 27 percent are homeowners, and 45 percent are renters.

            Just glancing at Marion’s 2015 Housing Needs Assessment, Arbeene got a sense of the development constraints that had encumbered affordable housing in Marion back in 2015. The trust confirmed that Marion has since then approved an updated Master Plan and is serviced by some degree of public transportation. Other than that, the town has moved very little toward accomplishing prior goals in the 2015 plan, such as adopting bylaws and changing zoning conducive to housing development, providing incentives for senior developments, or modifying multiple-unit rental housing provisions.

            Arbeene wasn’t trying to make anyone on the trust feel bad about that, he said. He just needed to get a sense of what has been done since the last time SRPEDD assisted the town with this assessment type.

            Arbeene noted that development constraints are still there by and large, and some trust members suggested it was due to a lack of capacity, time, money, and a lack of interest.

            “Small town, lot of demands,” commented Selectman and Planning Board member Norm Hills, who sits on the Affordable Housing Trust. “And right now, the (costs to clean up the wastewater) lagoons are eating us alive.”

            Moving forward, Arbeene will assist the trust in developing goals and strategies in the affordable housing arena. “How can we overcome some of these constraints? Can we overcome some of the constraints?” asked Arbeen. “Do we have the same issues?” It looks like a “yes,” he commented, turning to community perception again as a significant constraint.

            “Community perceptions — something that’s not just in Marion,” said Arbeene. “There are a lot of misconceptions about that.” Affordable housing, however, is in high demand and a priority in the commonwealth at this time, he noted. He told the trust that he would do further research, share it with the trust in the meantime, and return for another presentation during the trust’s meeting in April.

            That would be helpful, said Hills, but he added that, once the second 40B process inches toward completion, “The pressure to push for more affordable housing is going to go way down.” This could alter the goals and strategies of Marion in the foreseeable future.

            The next regular meeting of the Marion Affordable Housing Trust will be on April 13 at 6:00 pm. The trust will meet again in the meantime on March 30 at 6:00 pm just to vote on two invoices with a quorum present.

Marion Affordable Housing Trust

By Jean Perry

MRV Sets Sights on Next Year for Upgrade

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            The Mattapoisett River Valley Water District Commission apparently has settled on a plan of attack in its ongoing effort to calculate the cost and determine the optimum timing for the borrowing it will take to make the long-awaited upgrade to its water treatment facility.

            The nearly obsolete Targa II water-treating system presently used is several years beyond its expiration date, and a brand new, state-of-the-art Puron MP system will only cost $1,100,100 more to install, so there has been little to no debate on which way the MRV will go. The ultimate decision is further leveraged by Koch company’s announcement this year that replacement filters for the current system and associated parts will only be made available until the midway point of 2021.

            The remaining question is financial strategy, and what came out of the March 9 commission meeting was an agreement to seek another meeting with Koch representatives with the intention of nailing down the company’s timeline, including pilot testing, then finalize financing and finally get the project onto the warrants for special fall town meetings for the participating towns or their 2022 annual town meetings.

            Commission Treasurer Meghan Davis presented a loan scenario with Unibank that broke down the impacts of debt of the filter replacement to each town. She explained it as “one debt option, but there are many ways we can go through it.”

            The hypothetical scenario presented broke down the towns’ portions to Mattapoisett at 31 percent, Marion at 11 percent, and Fairhaven at 51 percent. Per average ratepayer, that translates over the first five years to $83 per year for Mattapoisett ratepayers and $36 per year for Marion ratepayers.

            Since existing debt drops off between 2027 and 2028, there is an incentive for MRV to readily accept the current drag in the Koch company’s Puron technology approval process at the state level. The downside there is Koch is only offering replacement parts to the existing system through July of 2021.

            Commission member Paul Silva complimented Davis on the effort it took to construct the scenario and suggested using the $800,000 that the commission has in reserve. “We don’t want to go back to Town Meeting and ask for more money,” he said. “We’re talking about five years until the major portion of that old debt falls off. If we push it off one year, we can change the numbers by 20 percent.”

            According to Gregory, Tata & Howard will need to make an addendum of $8,100 in billing to cover any additional work in the filter-replacement evaluation. Gregory estimates that the engineering group is under budget so far, so a strong finish could offset the amendment amount. “Just in case we need the funding in place to cover it and to provide an addendum report at the end,” he said. The commission voted to approve the amendment, which will consist of assistance to Koch in piloting with technical aspects.

            In her commission Treasurer’s Report, Davis reported $68,379.66 in total invoices, including $11,772.16 in chemicals, $45,519.62 in electrical (two months fell into one billing period), and $6,202.05 for Tata & Howard’s three projects billed to FY21. The total figure also takes into account the $5,000 invoice from the MRV Water Supply Protection Advisory Committee for monitoring services. The MRV Water District Commission voted to approve the report and pay the invoices.

            The bulk of the Water Supply Protection Advisory Committee discussion centered around what member Laurell Farinon estimates to be 13 separate phragmites stands in Snipatuit Pond. The problem with invasive species in Snipatuit is far greater than initially hoped.

            “These are not cheap projects,” she said, estimating that the phragmites could cost the committee tens of thousands of dollars to remove and could be beyond the committee’s purview. “It’s everybody’s responsibility, but it could consume our funding, and we have to look at our mission…. Phragmites, it’s a tough one.”

            Gregory agreed the problem is “way beyond what we thought it originally would be…. We could be getting into some significant cost there.” Paul Howard, also of Tata & Howard, said, “It’s a massive problem throughout the state.”

            Blair Bailey, Rochester’s town counsel, said the Department of Environmental Protection “would need to be the lead agency…. Nobody’s really stepped up to say they’re going to make a concerted effort.”

            Farinon reported that Snow’s Pond asked about accessing MRV data and graphs for the pond’s monitoring effort.

            In his Water Supply Protection Advisory Committee Treasurer’s Report, Jeff Furtado reported three bills for February: Watling for $251.72, Bailey for $50, and Tata & Howard engineers for $1,587.75. Billing for the year to date is $27,710.64. With no change in income, the ending balance is $244,027.56. The committee voted to pay the following invoices: Tata & Howard $3,405.03; Megan McCarthy (graph work) $187; Watling (well and stream assistance) $251.72; and Blair Bailey $50.

            Gregory also reported on monitoring equipment valued at just under $1,100 and discussed a replacement Levelogger.

            The next meeting of the Mattapoisett River Valley Water Supply Protection Advisory Committee and Water District Commission is scheduled for April 13 at 3:30 pm and 4:00 pm, respectively.

MRV Water Supply Protection Advisory Committee/District Commission

By Mick Colageo

Selectmen’s Seats Up for Grabs

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            All three of the Tri-Towns have a potential contest for a selectmen’s seat in the 2021 Annual Town Elections.

            Two chairmen, Rochester’s Paul Ciaburri and Marion’s Randy Parker, are both running for reelection. In Mattapoisett, longtime Selectman Paul Silva’s seat will be contested by Jodi Lynn Bauer, Nicki Demakis, and former Selectman Tyler Macallister, who all pulled nomination papers last month. Macallister vacated his seat last year to interview for the town administrator job that went to Mike Lorenco. Macallister then ran for selectman and lost to John DeCosta Jr. Demakis returned papers on Monday.

            Also vacating a reelection bid in Mattapoisett are Highway Surveyor Barry Denham and School Committee member Carole Clifford. School Committee Chairman Jim Muse is running for reelection, and Eric Beauregard has pulled papers to run for a School Committee seat. Garrett Bauer and Gary Bowman have both pulled papers to run for Denham’s seat as Highway Surveyor.

            Other Mattapoisett incumbents running for reelection include Russell Bailey, Board of Health; John Eklund, Moderator; Leda Kim, Housing Authority; Leonard Coppolla, Assessor; Karen Field, Planning Board; Charles McCullough, Community Preservation Committee; Albert Mennino, Water/Sewer Commissioner; and Public Library Trustees William Osier and Elizabeth Sylvia. Community Preservation Committee member Michelle Hughes is the only Mattapoisett incumbent who had not pulled papers as of March 8.

            In Rochester, as of March 8, Ciaburri, Jana Cavanagh of the Board of Assessors, Tree Warden Jeffrey Eldridge, Dale Barrows of the Board of Health, and Robin Rounseville of the School Committee have pulled nomination papers to run for reelection (all seats are three-year terms). Eldridge has returned papers.

            Non-incumbents running this year in Rochester include Richard. A. Munroe, Water Commission; Shauna A. Makuch, Library Trustees; and Dennis P. McCarthy, Planning Board.

            Other incumbents in Rochester whose three-year terms expire in 2021 include Kirby Gilmore, Town Moderator; Gary Florindo, Planning Board; Lee Carr, Planning Board; Jordan Pouliot, Plumb Library Trustee; Gloria Vincent, Plumb Library Trustee; Kenneth Ross, Park Commission; Michael Conway, Water Commission; Tina Rood, Rochester School Committee; and Rood and Chairperson Cary Humphrey on the Old Rochester Regional School Committee.

            Rochester’s Town Election is scheduled for Wednesday, May 26. Nomination papers are available at Town Hall by appointment only. Papers returned must include a minimum of 30 signatures and be filed (by appointment only) by Wednesday, March 31, at 5:00 pm.

            In Marion, papers have also been returned by incumbent Dr. John Howard, whose term on the Board of Health expires this year.

            Other incumbents who have pulled papers in Marion include George T.J. Walker, Assessor; Brad Gordon, Moderator; Andrew Daniel, vice-chairman of the Planning Board; and three Marion School Committee members whose terms are up: April Rios, Mary Beauregard, and Chairperson Michelle Ouellette Smith. Alan Harris, the vice-chairman of the Open Space Acquisition Commission, had not pulled papers as of March 8.

            Jonathan F. Henry, not an incumbent, has pulled papers for a seat on Marion’s Planning Board; Kristen Saint Don-Campbell, whose term is expiring, resigned from her post earlier this winter due to scheduling conflicts.

            Marion’s Town Election will be held on Friday, May 14, at the Cushing Community Center, and the Annual Town Meeting on Monday, May 10. Nomination papers are available and must be returned by Monday, March 22, at 5:00 pm. Except for town moderator (one year), all Marion seats up for election are three-year terms.

            Key dates in Mattapoisett are as follows: March 26 at 5:00 pm is the deadline to request nomination papers, and March 30 at 1:00 pm is the filing deadline with the Board of Registrars. April 13 is the last day to submit papers to the town clerk, and April 15 is the final day to object or withdraw. Tuesday, April 20, is the last day to register to vote for Annual Town Meeting, and Wednesday, April 28, is the last day to register to vote in the Annual Town Election. Monday, May 3, is the last day to publish or post the warrant for Mattapoisett’s Annual Town Meeting, which will be held on Monday, May 10, at 6:30 pm at Old Rochester Regional High School. Tuesday, May 11, is the last day to publish or post the warrant for Annual Town Election, which will be held on Tuesday, May 18, 8:00 am to 8:00 pm at Old Hammondtown School.

By Mick Colageo

From the Files of the Rochester Historical Museum

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In old New England towns, cemeteries are interesting places for many reasons. In Rochester, like other towns, quite a few current cemeteries grew organically from small family plots. Today in Rochester, seven cemeteries are under the auspices of the Town Cemetery Commission. However, the first to be created in Rochester, the Rochester Center Cemetery, is privately owned and continues to be an active burial ground.

            The town center was established in 1697 by the first Constables. The land for the center was set apart from the town and was originally named the “Ministry” Woods. In the beginning, it was intended to include a burying ground and training field. Mark Haskell, Peter Blackmer, and Samuel Prince, all prominent men in the early days of Rochester, met at Haskell’s house on New Bedford Road to lay out plans for both the first meeting house and the burying ground. Around 1701, the First Parish Cemetery, now known as Rochester Center Cemetery (or simply Center Cemetery), was established. Like many cemeteries, it reflects the town’s history, from the very first settler families, many of whom have been mentioned in these articles.

            In the oldest section, too many tombstone inscriptions have become illegible. However, we can still find the graves of the Honorable Abraham Holmes and his son, Charles Jarvis Holmes, Esq., and those of Charles Bonney and Elizabeth and Charles H. Leonard. Many of the markers are engraved with the family names that we also see on our street signs: Mendell, Perry, Rounseville, Sherman, Hartley, Parlow, Snow, Dexter, and others. Lieutenant John Winslow, a veteran of the French and Indian Wars, buried in 1715, has the oldest grave. As you walk through the cemetery reading inscriptions, you find poignant markers to those lost at sea or ones that surprise, such as the Goodenough memorial honoring missionaries to the Zulus. This cemetery is proof that in a town as old as Rochester, history is everywhere.

By Connie Eshbach

Fire Department Needs New Engine

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            It was a busy week for Chuck McCullough, chairman of both the Mattapoisett Capital Planning and Community Preservation Committees. But that’s to be expected as the town’s budget-focused committees continue their review and recommendation processes in a lead-up to the Annual Spring Town Meeting.

            On March 3, McCullough met with the CPC to review proposed capital projects for the Fire Department and the Water and Sewer Departments.

            Fire Chief Andrew Murray explained the necessity for replacing the pontoons in the department’s safe boat at an estimated cost of $14,500. He said the floatation equipment was 20 years old and will no longer hold air. But the big surprise was the $575,000 plugged-in for FY23 for a new fire engine.

            Murray said that a January state inspection of the 1996 Pierce pumper engine currently in service stated that the apparatus would most likely fail a road-worthiness evaluation. He said the floors were rotting out and that seven years ago, $40,000 in repairs had given the piece additional service hours. “We’ve been nursing it along,” Murray said. “We have wooden planks holding the batteries in place so they won’t fall out.” This revelation prompted McCullough to wonder aloud if a new engine could, in fact, be pushed out to FY23.

            Member Alan Apperson asked, “How do we decide if it comes out of free cash or debt?” Town Administrator Mike Lorenco responded, “The only option is debt or capital reserve funds.” Lorenco also thought that incurring the debt would push up the tax rate.

            McCullough suggested to Murray that he pull together a committee sooner rather than later to study options and costs for a new engine given the amount of time it would ultimately take for a new engine to be built, upwards of a year. McCullough said it was possible to bring it to a fall Special Town Meeting if one is held.

            Earlier in the discussion, Murray justified a request of $42,000 for a fire inspector’s vehicle, saying, “Most departments have a vehicle for the fire inspector; he’s not going to use his private vehicle.” He said that it would also be used to transport recruits to the fire academy.

            Also coming before the CPC was Henri Renauld, superintendent of the Water and Sewer Departments. He described two sums of $25,000 from each enterprise entity as funds needed to prepare conceptual designs for a new, all-inclusive building proposed for property owned by the town and located off Industrial Drive.

            Renauld said the design is the first step toward estimating a new municipal building that could finally bring the two departments together under one roof. To offset expenses associated with a new structure, he said that town-owned properties located on Church Street, North Street, and the Bay Club could be sold off. Currently, the Water and Sewer Department operations are sprinkled across the community at various locations with rents of approximately $4,000 per month.

            Also divided 50-50 between the two services was $35,000 each for the purchase of a new truck. Renauld described a vehicle currently in use as deteriorated beyond repair.

            On the project side, Renauld discussed the pending Pearl Street improvements, 25 percent design and dependent on the Highway Department’s design portion, and the Eel Pond forced main that will require horizontal directional boring under the bike path with an estimated cost of $2,345,000. If grants are secured, the town’s portion would be $750,000, said Renauld, who added he would know by the end of April if state and federal funds were secured. Regarding the town’s portion, he said that another project, the Fairhaven Treatment Plant and pipe-relining project, had come in under budget by $644,000, freeing up those funds for the town’s portion of the Eel Pond project.

            The conversation turned to the capital needs of Old Rochester Regional High School. Once again, McCullough noted the importance of bringing the three towns together in a joint capital meeting to discuss matters. Lorenco said that funding outdoor track improvements or a replacement would require the approval of the School Committee and stressed that all three towns are facing very tight budgets.

            “If the appropriation is too high, it won’t get funded,” said Lorenco. “Unless we use debt.” Lorenco also noted the increases being sought by Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School and Bristol County Agricultural High School. To fund a large track improvement project at ORR would mean cutting somewhere else, he speculated. Lorenco said that currently, the total split between the three towns is around $400,000.

            On March 4, McCullough came before the Finance Committee in his roles as chairman of the Community Preservation and Capital Planning Committees.

            McCullough said the Community Preservation Committee had received three requests, a scant number compared to other grant seasons.

            The first grant proposal came from the Cushing Cemetery overseers for $20,000 to digitize historical records and map the cemetery. McCullough said that some 7,000 records are kept in boxes at members’ homes. The overseers sought to preserve the records for posterity before further deterioration or loss could occur. The CPA members were in full support of the request.

            The Mattapoisett Christian Church and Mattapoisett Historical Society submitted a grant application for $35,500 for renovations of the entranceway almost exclusively used as the museum’s entrance.

            After a thorough review by town counsel, McCullough said that no conflict was found between church and state since the museum was the sole occupant of the former church building. “We did our due diligence,” McCullough said. The CPA committee agreed unanimously.

            A press box for ORR in the amount of $20,000, which had previously been brought before Town Meeting but failed to secure Rochester’s support, was again advanced by the CPA. McCullough said that the ORR Athletic Boosters Club was once again seeking Tri-Town support that its members believed they would receive at the spring town meetings. The CPC agreed to advance the request again, contingent upon full Tri-Town support.

            McCullough switched hats and began discussions regarding the work of the Capital Planning Committee. He ran down the list of FY22 capital requests: $30,000 water well pump upgrades; $50,000 combined water/sewer new building conceptual drawings; $70,000 combined water/sewer new vehicle; $35,000 sewer pump upgrades; $150,000 village water main project; $644,000 Eel Pond forced sewer main; $54,000 Long Wharf improvements; $132,000 ORR track project; $55,000 new police cruiser; $14,500 fire boat pontoons; $250,000 roadway improvements; $85,000 side-arm mower; $45,000 local schools telephone upgrades; $25,000 floor repairs local schools; and $20,000 roof and window repairs library building.

            The FinCom members also met with Old Colony Superintendent Aaron Polansky, who spoke to the rise in the number of students entering his school from Mattapoisett. He said that 31 students from the community are now registered. He gave a brief PowerPoint presentation that illustrated a budget increase of 1.98 percent or $824,722 for FY22. He said that one reason the increase isn’t larger came from a one-time offset from the state of $107,000, shared by the member communities. Polansky said the school had anticipated receiving $7,000 per student from the state but ended up only receiving $1,500. FinCom member Gary Johnson said, “You’ve done a nice job trying to get the budget down to under 2 percent.”

            The Mattapoisett Capital Planning Committee scheduled a meeting for March 10 at 6:00 pm; the next meeting of the Mattapoisett Finance Committee is scheduled for March 11 at 4:00 pm.

Mattapoisett Capital Planning and Finance Committees

By Marilou Newell

Swing Your Partner, Do-Si-Do

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            As Mattapoisett resident Brad Hathaway shifted through yellowing documents and old school papers drafted seven decades ago, he came across an assignment that made his heart tickle with joy. The professor had written across the top, “Good story, should be printed in some paper.” Hathaway could never have imagined as he typed his essay on a manual typewriter way back then that it would resurface and, in fact, be printed in a newspaper.

            When Hathaway contacted The Wanderer to share what he thought was a good story idea, one that might draw a few lines from his essay when he declared, “Do what you want with it, I don’t want it back.” He was hoping for not so much a reprint of his work but that it might inspire a larger story to which many in the Tri-Town area might respond.

            Hathaway was, once upon a time, a journalism student who interviewed a local square dance caller. Square dancing was a popular pastime in those days, and many residents will recall weekend square dancing long before the advent of sock hops.

            For one young lady, Patricia Ann Sylvia (later to become Mrs. Tate), also of Mattapoisett, square dancing was a family affair. During Hathaway’s interview, the young woman explained, “The fact that I ever got interested in (square dance) calling in the first place was an accident.” Continuing on, Hathaway wrote that Tate’s mother and father were regular attendees of dances held in the Bourne Grange Hall. One night, Tate went along with her parents and planned to go rollerskating at the nearby rink. However, it was closed. “I went back to the Grange Hall to get the car keys,” but there was a shortage of women at the dance that night, she told Hathaway. “Up to that time, I had never square danced in my life.… I enjoyed myself immediately, and when I heard the caller, I vowed to myself that I, too, would someday call,” Hathaway wrote.

            Now, as the veil of time is drawn back a bit further, Tate shared her remaining memories of those earlier days with The Wanderer. “My father was the president of the PTA at Center School. Dad thought it would be a good idea and fun fundraiser to hold a square dance. A truck holding a band played in our backyard the first year the event was held. The following year it was held at the wharves next to Shipyard Park.”

            Tate said that callers came from abroad to call at local dances. She would learn the calls while sitting in the back seat of the car on family trips to Bourne. She and her parents would sing out the calls in the car as they drove to the venue. “The calls were singing calls back then,” she said, as compared to the more “Western-type of calls,” and she knew them by heart.

            On one auspicious night, she got her big break. “My father asked caller Charlie Dexter to give me a chance,” she softly laughed, “that was the beginning.” She said she would go on to call at the Brockton Fair, at private homes, on Martha’s Vineyard, and at many other venues over the next two years. And it would be a brief chapter in her long life when she stepped out in front of live bands and called out to dancers who depended on her expertise to keep them moving smoothly across the dance floor.

            Tate would tell Hathaway, “I was the guest caller one night.… It was my moment and only my third performance… I was petrified at first.” But that sensation would be replaced with excitement and joy. In 1950 she would call at the Mattapoisett Town Hall upstairs in the theater area. Tate told Hathaway that she and Dexter would give square dance lessons during the winter months in the Tri-Town area. Hathaway wrote, “She has only called twice to phonograph records; other times, an orchestra has been present. Pat said, ‘Calling is never dull. You always have to watch the dancers. If you see the people are having trouble, you must revise the call so they will enjoy themselves.’”

            Enjoy themselves indeed. For decades, summer weekend evenings would find groups of square dancers dressed in their best costumes queuing up to dance under the stars at the Mattapoisett wharves.

What began as a PTA fundraiser would become a summer staple of stamping feet and swirling skirts, all choreographed by square dance callers, of which Tate was one.

            During Hathaway’s interview with Tate, the young caller discussed square dancing with youthful exuberance. “If the crowd doesn’t seem to be having a good time, I pick up the tempo of the music. It is the caller who controls the tempo, not the orchestra.” Hathaway also wrote, “Pat calls mostly for the enjoyment of it. Yet, there are times when she gets as much as ten dollars for a performance.”

            Today that translates to approximately $100 and still falls short of a professional caller’s bottom-dollar event rate. But the following truly gives us a sense of just how much the young Tate truly enjoyed square dancing. She told Hathaway, “My (small) stature is a definite advantage when it comes to square dancing.… The boys like to pick me up off the floor and swing me round.… They can’t do that with most of the girls!”

            In closing out his interview, Hathaway learned that Tate’s favorite dance was the Alabama Jubilee and that “I like to call at the grange hall most of all because they have the best eats there.”

            Hathaway would also write that Tate had written a yet-to-be-published book titled “Square Your Sets,” an introduction to square dancing geared towards children. Tate would go on to graduate from Boston University with a degree in education. For a period of time, she taught at Center School.

            Tate told The Wanderer that, before returning home to settle down after graduation, she went to California, where she taught, followed by positions in Natick, Cape Cod, and New Bedford. While in California, she briefly studied and enjoyed folk dancing.

            Group dancing heralds back to nearly the beginning of humankind. Clog dancing came to the new world with Irish immigrants along with other forms of traditional dance. It seems, however, that the evolution of those earlier dance forms to square dancing is an American invention.

            While it faded in popularity, square dancing can still be found in cities and towns across the nation. Twenty-two U.S. states have declared square dancing as the state’s official dance, and there have been 30 bills sent to Congress to have it legislated as the country’s official dance. Not bad for a humble dance in which kicking up one’s heels is syncopated primarily to a fiddle.

            It has been seven decades since Tate first took her place in front of a band and called out to a waiting crowd, “Bow to your partner,” to start an evening of square dancing, the memory of which still rings down through the years. Who knows, maybe one day square dancing will return to the wharves, and dancers will swing their partners under the stars on a brilliant summer’s evening once again.

By Marilou Newell

Rochester Women’s Club Scholarships

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If you are a graduating high school senior from Rochester and are attending college in the fall, please see your guidance office for applications for the Rochester Women’s Club scholarships. The club has three available $1,000.00 scholarships. We are offering two Raymond C. Hartley Scholarships, available to all graduating seniors and one “Snookie” Nursing Scholarship, only for students who are pursuing a career in nursing. The deadline for accepting these scholarships March 19. Any questions regarding the Rochester Women’s Club scholarships please call Marsha at 508-322-0998. You can also find the scholarship applications at the Plumb Library in Rochester.

            The Rochester Women’s Club was very proud to present Cecilia Prefontaine and Hannah Stallings with the Raymond C. Hartley Scholarships for 2020.

Mattapoisett Library Reopening for Browsing

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We are thrilled to welcome back patrons to the library by appointment starting on Saturday, March 13, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Anyone wishing to browse and pick up materials, use the upstairs computers, or get quick reference help will need to register for an appointment online via our calendar of events or call the library at 508-758-4171. Appointments will be offered on the hour for upstairs, quarter past the hour for downstairs, and will last 45 minutes, so we ask that you be timely and keep to the allotted time. Appointment times will be offered a week in advance. Please note that much of the seating will not be available, and in-depth reference questions are best sent to email or asked via phone. Computer appointments will be limited to 45 minutes as well; special arrangements for more time can be made on a case-by-case basis, but not guaranteed.

            The library will be open to appointments on the following dates and times:

Tuesdays 2:00 pm – 8:00 pm, Wednesdays 2:00 pm – 8:00 pm, Thursdays 10:00 am – 1:00 pm,

Saturdays – 10:00 am – 4:00 pm.

            All materials being returned will go into the book drops as usual. No returns inside.

            The library will offer no-contact side door pickups exclusively on the following days and times: Tuesdays 10:00 am t – 1:00 pm, Wednesdays 10:00 – 1:00 pm, Thursdays 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm, Fridays 10:00 am – 5:00 pm, Sundays 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm. Please call staff to make arrangements for no-contact pickup on days we are open for browsing.

            Patrons must wear masks properly and adhere to social distance protocols while in the library. Hand sanitizer stations are located throughout the library and patrons should sanitize hands upon arrival, then check in with library staff at the circulation desk for upstairs appointments or the children’s desk for downstairs appointments. The library is holding contact information for a short period of time in case of the need for contact tracing. If you have any questions about these procedures, please email Library Director Jennifer Jones at jjones@sailsinc.org. You can start reserving appointments by visiting mattapoisettlibrary.org and clicking on events.

Harbor Days Moves Forward with Planning

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            Coming before the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen on March 9 was Lions Club president Ross Kessler to discuss plans for the return of the popular Lions Club Harbor Days and triathlon, annual summertime events sidelined in 2020 due to COVID-19. July 10 through 18 may just find the village streets full of visitors again.

            Kessler discussed following state guidelines such as the number of attendees granted entrance to Shipyard Park, the event’s weeklong home, and what locations might be used as entranceways and exits. Selectman John DeCosta asked if the organization had considered waiting until August to hold the fundraiser, granting more time for people to be vaccinated. But Kessler said that, although it was considered, the loss of revenue with lower attendance anticipated for an August event and scheduling issues with entertainers made the July dates their primary goal. Lions Club member Bob Saunders said that he would meet with the Police, Fire, and Board of Health to ensure safety for all concerned.

            Selectman Jordan Collyer asked of the town beach area, “The triathlon can be a train wreck of people; how do you maintain distance and numbers?” Kessler replied, “We will cancel if we can’t maintain the number regulated by the state.” Town Administrator Mike Lorenco asked that the Lions meet with him sooner rather than later to make sure a plan is in place for crowd control. Collyer also wanted to set a “go/no-go” benchmark and said, “At the risk of sounding unpopular, should we consider shutting down Water Street” to help control the number and movement of pedestrians? Selectman Paul Silva thought shutting down the two roadways to the wharves should also be considered for that purpose.

            The selectmen approved the July event dates pending the Lions Club’s ability to maintain state guidelines. Presently, the state’s guidelines for groups of up to 150 attending outdoor events go into effect on March 22.

            Also coming before the selectmen on this night was Council on Aging Director Jacki Coucci with a reopening plan. Coucci said the ultimate goal is to provide some services that were in place until the town’s COVID-19 infection rate reached the red category last fall. Coucci said she would follow all state and local guidelines for programs such as fitness and assured the board that anyone using the facility or the services would be registered, making contact tracing possible. The selectmen approved the plan. An April reopening date is anticipated.

            Fire Chief Andrew Murray met with the selectmen to review his department’s FY22 budget.

Murray was asked to justify a $14,448 jump in the on-call-personnel line item. He said the increase was based on the 2-percent cost-of-living and contractual step increases. Murray was also called upon to explain a $43,000 expense for a full-time clerk. He said the position had been part-time for 25 years and that the amount of clerical work had increased over the years. “I take a lot of work home,” he said. Silva voiced his opinion that two 20-hour, part-time clerks could accomplish the same thing with the town not being burdened with another full-time employee eligible for benefits. Murray countered, “It’s better to have the same person for continuity, and the clerk would also be the dispatcher during the day.”

            Murray spoke to the need to increase the building and grounds-maintenance expense line from $7,000 to $12,000, noting the new fire station and grounds will incur greater costs or new costs such as an HVAC system, diesel extractor, and garage doors.

            On the Fire Department’s Capital Planning list, Murray discussed the need for a fire inspector’s vehicle, $42,000 scheduled for FY23, and $14,500 for repairs to the department’s safe boat scheduled for FY22. DeCosta questioned the need for a new vehicle while Silva questioned repairing a boat he said wasn’t needed. “We don’t need a harbormaster’s boat and a Fire Department boat – just my opinion.”

            On the topic of a new fire engine scheduled in FY23 for $575,000, Murray explained the deteriorated condition of the engine and the long lead time needed to have a new engine delivered, upwards of a year. At the Capital Planning Committee’s request, he would be putting together a committee to begin planning and cost estimates for possible inclusion in a Fall Town Meeting warrant. Collyer thought it important to begin that review process now and, “If we are in a good free cash situation, it could be considered in the fall.”

            Lorenco noted that there is presently $130,000 in excess capacity with $2,095,000 earmarked for capital expenses.

            Earlier in the evening, the selectmen and Board of Health Chairman Carmelo Nicolosi presented retiring Public Health Nurse Amanda Stone with certificates of appreciation from the town and the state in recognition of her 17 years of service. Collyer noted her “unprecedented leadership during COVID-19.”

            At 6:30 pm, the meeting began with Sandra Hering presenting the board with an Arbor Day Proclamation for April 30 and a cautionary note regarding the current condition of trees throughout the community. “We have been a Tree City for 13 years, but we are facing obstacles,” Hering began. She said that last year 21 trees had been planted compared to only three this year. She said there was fear that Norway Maples planted throughout the town were falling to disease and that the lion’s share of their small budget had gone to tree removal. Silva asked Lorenco to keep this in mind while drafting the FY22 budget with the possibility of funding more plantings from free cash.

            The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen is scheduled for March 23, at 6:30 pm.

Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen

By Marilou Newell