The Rev. Marc Eames, Rector of The Church of the Advent, Medfield, will conduct services at 8:00 am and 10:00 am on Sunday, August 1, at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, next to the Town Beach in Mattapoisett. This is the 137th Summer Season at St. Philip’s when clergy from nearby and far visit every week, using the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. All are welcome!
Paul G. “Truck” Croteau, 71, of Mattapoisett, died Thursday July 22, 2021 in comfort and care.
Born in New Bedford, the son of Normand Croteau and Pauline (Gaudette) Croteau, Paul was a proud father, a friend, a long-time musician and passionate horticulturalist. He spent most of his days caring for his native garden in Fairhaven and spending time with his grandchildren and family. “Papa” was a loving grandfather who shared his enthusiasm for nature with his grandchildren. Paul often loved to sit at the Mattapoisett Bogs and the Landing where his keen eye for photography resulted in countless pictures of wildlife, particularly native and migratory birds. Having spent many years as caretaker of the Kinsale Inn/The Inn at Shipyard Park, Paul enjoyed his summer mornings sharing coffee on the porch with his dear friends while greeting passersby.
A prominent figure in the tradition folk and Irish music scene, Paul was a self-taught bouzouki, guitar and mandolin player and gifted singer. Whether performing professionally or playing tunes amongst friends at a traditional music session, Paul was at his happiest while playing music.
Paul was dedicated to the resurgence of traditional English and Irish music and he was a founding member of Clanjamfrey based at Folk Legacy in Recording Studio in Connecticut. Later, he became the musical director and vocalist for the traditional acapella group, Calaban, which appeared at many local venues and festivals, including Eisteddfod at UMass Dartmouth as well as with the New England Conservatory of Music Chamber Singers at Jordan Hall. Paul was a familiar face to anyone at Tryworks of New Bedford. These are only a few of the many contributions to Traditional Music in New England that Paul’s family and friends remember fondly and of which he was very proud.
Survivors include his long-time partner and friend, Susan York; his children, Lauren Croteau, Rachel Campbell and Daniel Croteau; his brothers, Bernard, Raymond and Michael Croteau; his sisters, Louise Desroches, Simone Benac, Denise Satur, Maggie Ashley and Michelle Torres; his grandchildren, Lucy and Elliot Campbell; and his many nieces and nephews.
He is predeceased by his sister, Janine Croteau.
His services will be private and he will be buried at Riverside Cemetery in Fairhaven. Arrangements are by the Saunders-Dwyer Mattapoisett Home for Funerals, 50 County Rd., Mattapoisett. For online condolence book, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.
It was with mixed emotions that Marion Town Planner Gil Hilario told the Energy Management Committee that he will soon be leaving for the same position in North Attleboro where he grew up. Hilario’s last day working for Marion will be Monday, August 9.
“It’s been a great learning experience; I loved knowing everyone here, we became a Green Community,” said Hilario, his comments closing out Monday night’s July 26 public meeting of the EMC. He referenced many projects, including the beginning of electric town vehicles and charging stations. “We’ve done every little thing. This community has really charged ahead.”
EMC member Eileen Marum told Hilario that he has done a tremendous job and “really grown into the position,” leading Marion in its successful and ongoing pursuit of grant funds that she said have made a “huge impact…. More than you realize.”
EMC Chair Christian Ingerslev agreed, saying that Hilario has been “invaluable to this committee and does an excellent job.”
Hilario thanked the members for their words.
On the prior bookend, the EMC slightly reorganized, but not quite to the degree Ingerslev had hoped after admittedly being thrust into the position of chair, a role he will continue to fill.
After soliciting nominations, Ingerslev was unanimously voted to continue as chair.
Alanna Nelson will serve as vice-chair, and Tom Friedman, who was not in attendance, was voted to become clerk effective with the EMC’s next meeting. Nelson made the nomination “because he’s a very thorough person.” Marum acted as clerk for the final time in Monday’s meeting, and member Bill Saltonstall publicly thanked her for fulfilling that duty.
The larger question for the EMC going forward is the committee’s evolving function, emerging identity, and potential name change. Having notified the Select Board of this interest, the committee recently received a response from Select Board member Norm Hills looking to identify a title and an accompanying mission statement.
EMC members batted around several variations, ultimately steering away on the word “sustainability” on the advice of alternate member Jennifer Francis, who also believes that the word “green” has become politicized and may not be the right choice for a title that needs to identify the committee’s purpose.
“Green Communities has been one of the core missions, but I fear it doesn’t say everything,” added Nelson.
The title the members settled on to pitch to the Select Board is the “Energy and Climate Resilience Committee.”
Francis recommended a brief mission statement to avoid stepping over the purviews of other town boards, commissions, and committees and at the same time avoid becoming entangled by any particular words or phrases.
Marion, which has been leasing four 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander compact sports-utility vehicles, needs to decide whether to lease new vehicles or buy out the ones currently being leased. The approximate buyout price for each is estimated to be $18,000. If the town took that approach, the SUVs would be kept five years, then the town would lease or purchase newer vehicles.
Marum suggested checking in with the Finance Committee before making any recommendation.
Hilario reported that the employees in the Building Department, Council on Aging, Department of Public Works, and Recreation Department all like the model. He said that Finance Director Judy Mooney could work on a proposal to bring to the Finance Committee.
Nelson said that the town is down to $5,000 in available money for this purpose, and Hilario said that a $7,500 grant is not enough to pay for replacements.
Francis is working on developing a tree preservation bylaw, having studied and modified Concord’s. She has worked with Norm Hills and Margie Baldwin and will next bring it to Town Administrator Jay McGrail. The bylaw change could be co-sponsored by the EMC and the Parks Committee.
“In a nutshell,” said Francis, “the idea is to not tell property owners what they can and cannot do but give them options with the goal of becoming a net-zero tree town.” She called it the best hope of sequestering carbon.
The bylaw would apply only to living trees 6 or more inches in diameter, the stipulation of removal being to either replace on one’s own property or on an adjacent property with a new tree of at least 2 inches in diameter or pay into a fund to manage trees in other parts of town.
EMC members asked questions of application to solar projects, to trees threatening houses, and unhealthy trees, among other things.
Part of Francis’ proposal includes a tree preservation mitigation plan that would necessitate the hiring of an arborist to determine the condition of the tree in question. A tree threatening to fall onto a house could theoretically fall under an exclusion clause and could come under the purview of town Tree Warden Lee Gunschel.
Saltonstall referenced a situation his son Will was facing with tall evergreen trees on Point Road and, being worried about the house, cut them down. “We’ve done that, too, but I don’t think it’s a big ask (to follow the proposed bylaw),” said Francis, who said she took down a dozen white pines after the Nor’easter storms. She suggested citizens can plant trees somewhere else on their property or pay a fee into the Tree and Parks Committee fund.
Francis said the goal is “not to be punitive or negative or controlling but to encourage … to make people to think harder when trees get cut down when they build anything.”
The next meeting of the Marion EMC was not scheduled at adjournment, but Ingerslev confirmed that the committee will meet via Zoom through the end of 2021 while still trying to get onto the schedule at the Music Hall for in-person meetings in 2022.
Marion Energy Management Committee
By Mick Colageo
In his new job as head of school at Tabor Academy, Anthony “Tony” Jaccaci is cognizant of diversity at the school by the sea.
“I define diversity [as] ethnic, racial, but also socio-economic as well. There’s no doubt that we are an institution that is blessed with wonderful resources, and it’s very expensive to attend Tabor. But we have a very strong and robust financial aid program so that we can support kids from all different backgrounds,” he said, noting that the Marion-based prep school has close to 200 day students among its approximate 530 enrollment. “[Day students] come from the Tri-Town region, they come from all over southeast Massachusetts.”
Unlike in the movies where children are sent away to boarding schools as punishment or for convenience, Jaccaci stresses that Tabor Academy is based more on the British boarding school model, calling it “whole-child education: the mind, the body, and the character.”
Once religiously affiliated, Tabor is presently non-denominational and considers all student activities as education. Jaccaci uses the acronym “VUCA” to describe the variable, uncertain, changing, and ambiguous world that awaits today’s students.
“That’s the only thing we know about the future, [that] it’s going to be all of those challenging things,” he said. “That means they will have to develop a flexible mind, they have to be able to have a cultural competency where they can communicate well with people from very different backgrounds, they have to have the resilience and grit to get through difficult times, they have to understand the changing world and the implications of things such as artificial intelligence and changing environment around them, and really to enter into relationship with people from other countries, too.”
The advent of social media can improve learning, but Jaccaci said education also means teaching kids how to put their technology down and pick their heads up. Incidentally, Jaccaci’s leap into Marion Harbor is viewable on Instagram. “I was told, ‘To become a Seawolf, that’s what you have to do,'” he said.
While part of his own education this year will admittedly include looking people in the eyes and greeting them, one thing Jaccaci considers very important is “having civil discourse about really difficult discussions.
“We have a lot of issues going on in America. For example, across the country and here at Tabor, we’re thinking about things like diversity, equity, and inclusion. But what’s happening, I fear, is people, if they disagree with you, they’d rather just shut you out or so-called ‘cancel’ you, as opposed to [doing] the difficult work to find common ground,” he said.
Other than a long-ago visit as coach of the St. George’s School varsity girls soccer team, Jaccaci had never spent time in Marion before accepting the Tabor job.
“I saw the beauty of the campus, but I also met the community, the coach, the parents, the players of Tabor, and really felt that this is a special place,” said Jaccaci, who officially took office on July 1.
His interviews for the Tabor job were conducted by teleconference from Ohio, where Jaccaci served for six years as head of school at Cincinnati Country Day School, a coed day school with 820 students and 120 faculty.
“In that process, I came to understand the importance of the Tabor and the Tri-Town community relationship,” he said. “I knew that the school is over 145 years [old], that it shifted parts – originally it was a little farther away from the harbor and then in 1916 came closer – but part of that was understanding that the relationship between the town and the school is going to be a very important part of my responsibility.”
The Town of Marion also realizes that, as Select Board member John Waterman and Town Administrator Jay McGrail made sure to meet with Jaccaci ahead of his first day on the job.
The sometimes-contentious vetting of the new Campus Center by Marion’s Planning Board and the future of the Percy Browne House are matters Jaccaci will sink his teeth into as he settles in, but the town’s and Tabor’s mutual interest in improving their partnership apparently factored in Jaccaci’s selection.
Jaccaci, 52, takes over the role from Julie Salit, who had acted as interim head of school in the wake of John Quirk’s departure in January 2020.
Jaccaci began his career 20 years ago in Middletown, Rhode Island, just outside Newport where he and his wife, Lucia [Murphy], former captain of the Brown University women’s ice hockey team, spent 13 years. He taught Chinese language, ran the school’s global program, and coached baseball, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and track; she taught history and coached girls ice hockey. All three of Jaccaci’s children were born in Rhode Island.
“Much like Tabor, you teach, you coach, and you live in the dormitory. It was very easy to get babysitters,” he said.
Born at Phillips Academy Andover, having attended boarding school and even having met Lucia at one, Jaccaci jokes that he was doomed for this career from the start.
Before the family went to Cincinnati, the Jaccacis were in Shanghai, China, for five years. There, they started the equivalent of a charter school for Chinese citizens. “No campus, no books, no teachers, no kids,” said Jaccaci, describing the school’s beginnings. “The dual-language (English-Chinese), dual-curriculum (Chinese-Western) school had a boarding program.”
Having traveled to China, Jaccaci could speak the language.
“My four-year-old became fluent to the degree that, if you put a sheet between him and a native speaker and they could only hear him, they would think a Chinese person was on the other side. It was great,” explained Jaccaci. “We’re absolutely blessed to have such an opportunity and show our boys the world.”
Ages 10, 8, and 4 at the time, the older two boys are off to college, while the youngest will be a junior this fall at Tabor.
“We’re thrilled to be back in New England,” he said. “I aspire to do what I can to both serve the school but also be a really good neighbor to this community as well.”
By Mick Colageo
Emmanuel College has named Sydney Teixeira of Rochester to the Dean’s List for the Spring 2021 semester. To earn a spot on the Dean’s List, Emmanuel students must achieve a grade point average of 3.5 or higher for a 16-credit semester.
Bryant University is pleased to recognize the students who have been named to the Deans’ List for the spring 2021 semester: Sydney Mendonca, class of 2024, from Mattapoisett; Margaret Adams, class of 2023, from Mattapoisett; James Dwyer, class of 2022, from Mattapoisett; Alexandra Fluegel, class of 2023, from Mattapoisett; Aiden Woods, class of 2024, from Marion.
Bryant University is pleased to recognize the students who have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to academic excellence and achievement. Sydney Mendonca, class of 2024, from Mattapoisett, has been named to the President’s List for the spring 2021 semester.
The following Tri-Town students received bachelor’s degrees in over 100 majors at the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Undergraduate Commencement on May 14, 2021 at the McGuirk Alumni Stadium. From Marion: Julia M Barrett, Hannah Guard, and Andrew J Riggi. From Mattapoisett: Andrew David Bichsel and Jacob Spevack. From Rochester: Olivia Victoria Taber and Kurt Arthur Thompson.
Tufts University recently announced the dean’s list for the Spring 2021 semester. Among those students are Charlie Dineen, of Marion, class of 2023; Rosemary Loer, of Mattapoisett, class of 2023; and Grace Russell, of Mattapoisett, class of 2023.
Summer Art Auction Days at the MAC is here! This event will serve as the premier fundraiser for the Marion Art Center in 2021. In-person viewing of auction items on display at the Marion Art Center, plus online bidding, is now underway. Auction viewing and online bidding ends on Saturday, July 31, at 5:00 pm. The galleries at the MAC will have extended hours so bidders can view works in-person before bidding online on Thursday, July 29, and Friday, July 30, from 1:00 pm – 7:00 pm, and on Saturday, July 31, from 10:00 am – 5:00 pm. You can also purchase some great items in the MAC’s tent sale during these dates and take them home on the spot!
Be sure to bring your smartphone when visiting the MAC, where you’ll find a QR code for each auction item on display. The code will link you directly to the specific webpage for the item, so you can find out more information and bid immediately! Want to get a head start on the process? You can get a sneak peek at some of our auction items as we add products online (more to come!) at marionartcenter.org/art-auction. Go online to create your user account, where you can track your bids, winnings, and pay through our website after you’ve won. All users must create an account to place a bid. Participants may collect their winnings at the Marion Art Center on Sunday, August 1, between 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm, and on Monday, August 2, between 11:00 am – 5:00 pm.
The Marion Art Center is located at 80 Pleasant Street in Marion. Don’t miss this opportunity to support your community and enjoy the thrill of bidding and winning in an online art auction! For more information, visit marionartcenter.org, call the MAC at 508-748-1266, or email info@marionartcenter.org.
“I ran because people told me they needed me in there doing what I do,” stated Tyler Macallister on the eve of the special election to fill the unexpired term on the Mattapoisett Select Board created by the passing of John DeCosta.
On Tuesday night, Macallister secured his return to the conference room table, winning 471 votes to Ken Wilbur’s 224. Town Clerk Catherine Heuberger said that approximately 12.3-percent of the town’s 5,512 registered voters came out for this mid-summer election.
And timing of the election made campaigning difficult for Macallister, who owns a charter fishing business. He said family and friends called and sent texts to voters reminding them to get out and vote on July 27. “It’s really tough to run a campaign in June and July, my busiest season, but I had people around me helping,” he said.
Two of Macallister’s strongest supporters were his wife, Cynthia, and campaign treasurer Abigale Field. Macallister was not able to attend the reading of the election results due to fishing commitments, but his wife stated after learning her husband had won, “We thank the town of Mattapoisett [and] the people who gave us support. Tyler is looking forward to serving the town in this capacity.”
The Wanderer was able to reach Macallister as he returned home from a day at sea. He said of the win, “I’m relieved and happy. … [Wednesday] morning, I’ll reach out to Mike Lorenco (town administrator) and find out what the hot button items are now.” But Macallister is confident it will not take him long to come up to speed. “Thank you, Mattapoisett. I appreciate the opportunity to serve and the encouragement I’ve received. I like Mattapoisett, that’s why I want to serve.”
During his campaigning in June, Macallister spoke of the work he had done during his first eight years on the Select Board. During those years, the town built up stabilization funds, paid down debt, and secured the town with a triple-A bond rating, he said. “We are doing well in spite of COVID-19 because we planned for things like this with stability funds,” he said in June. “We came through because of a lot of hard work on the part of various boards and committees. I can continue those efforts to keep our funds strong.”
He vacated his selectman’s seat to apply for the town administrator opening that was filled by the hire of Mike Lorenco, then lost a close race to DeCosta when he tried to get back onto the Select Board.
Macallister, 53, currently serves on the town’s Finance Committee. He had also held a five-year seat on the Conservation Commission and the Plymouth County Advisory Board. He spoke in June of the need to study the future of such buildings as Town Hall, the possibility of school consolidation, the needs of the aging population, and upcoming contract negotiations.
Holding an MBA from UMass and a bachelor’s degree from UMass Dartmouth in Marine Biology, Macallister works as a consultant to the renewable energy industry in addition to his charter fishing business. Originally from Cape Cod, Macallister and his family have lived in Mattapoisett for 20 years.
By Marilou Newell
Out with the old and in with the new! Clean out your closets and give Mother Nature the gift of donating your unwanted textiles. Did you know that 85-percent of clothing and textiles end up in landfills even though 95-percent can be recycled or reused? Support ORR High School’s DECA club by donating your textiles all year round. The following can be put in the bins in any condition, old or new, as long as it’s clean and dry: Footwear (all kinds), clothing, accessories (hats, gloves, scarves, handbags, tote bags, belts, ties, bathrobes), linens (sheets, pillows, comforters, blankets, towels, throw rugs, draperies, table linens, placemats), and stuffed animals in any condition. Please bag items. Donation bins are located outside of Center School, Old Hammondtown, Rochester Memorial, Sippican School, and ORR Junior High and High Schools. All proceeds benefit ORRHS’s DECA Club.
The Rochester Conservation Commission wasn’t expecting to issue an approval for Snipatuit Road Solar, LLC’s Notice of Intent application for a large-scale solar farm off Snipatuit Road; however, after a lengthy discussion, the commission felt confident that it could cover all its bases in its written decision, even though important documents and state permits remain outstanding, possibly for many months.
The NOI had been discussed during several public meetings over the last several months. So, with few questions remaining, the applicant’s engineer, Eric Las of Beals and Thomas, Inc., asked the commission to issue an Order of Conditions and include special conditions that would allow for approval as they wait for the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program to issue the project a conservation management permit so construction could begin. That permit, though, could take months – perhaps even a year – which, Las pointed out, would put the project at risk should the commission decide to keep the public hearing open for just as long.
On Zoom with Las was Caroline Booth, who referred to a letter from NHESP from earlier that day. But Chairman Christopher Gerrior pointed out that the letter did not give any further details than a previous letter about minimizing the impacts the project would have on the sensitive habitats at the site. “We would need to know … those things,” he said.
Booth commented that the Snipatuit Road solar project, Featherbed South Solar project, and Braley Hill North Solar project are intertwined due to the turtle habitats contained within each site, and the mitigation plan would include the full protection of surrounding land in the form of conservation restrictions to reduce further fragmenting the habitats.
Las and Booth acknowledged that no construction could start until NHESP issues the project a permit, but Matt Creighton, the commission’s peer-review consultant, cautioned the ConCom that, although it could issue approval ahead of the NHESP permit, it would be wise to wait. If the NHESP permit requires any changes to the plan, the project would have to reappear before the commission. He added that the conservation restriction must be recorded at the Registry of Deeds before the Order of Conditions anyway.
Las appealed to the commission, saying, “We’re not trying to pull a fast one here. … I just don’t see how a conservation restriction is going to change the project. … I just don’t see how in any way what we’re doing with Natural Heritage is going to change or require us to come back.” He said he trusts the NHESP to make the proper recommendations. “I just don’t see a need to delay for up to three months,” he said, noting how often commission members can come and go, and a delay would jeopardize all the work put into the project so far.
Creighton said the applicant would be “rolling the dice” if they wanted to close the public hearing now but said it was up to the commission. Las added that, even if NHESP required more to be done to protect the habitat, there is plenty of mitigation land to allow the project to go above and beyond what the project has been required to do up until now.
Booth said the Order of Conditions the commission issued for the Featherbed solar project could be referenced in the Order of Conditions for the Snipatuit Road project. It could also include the condition that all NHESP requirements be met.
Still, asked Gerrior, “How can the commission make accurate conditions to things that we don’t even know? That’s where I’m getting hung up on.”
Booth suggested a general condition requiring that the applicant obtain the conservation management permit and meet all the requirements set forth by NHESP. This would cover all that the commission requires and put it into the Order of Conditions, she said.
In the end, the commission did just that and added some conditions that Conservation Agent Merilee Kelly preferred to include.
Also during the meeting, the commission continued the Request for a Certificate of Compliance for 268 Mattapoisett Road until August 3, so the commission could visit the site and confirm that no tree-clearing has occurred within the 25-foot no-touch zone. The NOI filed by A.D. Makepeace Company, Inc. for Morse Swamp Reservoir, 0 County Road, to restore and replicate large swaths of wetlands was continued until August 3.
The next meeting of the Rochester Conservation Commission will be held on Tuesday, August 3, at 7:00 pm.
Rochester Conservation Commission
By Jean Perry
Begin with a summer sunset by the harbor, friends and neighbors, and your own delicious picnic fare. Add great live music by Jason Kelley, Grace Morrison, and Joe Mac. Throw in beer on tap and fresh local oysters from Mattapoisett’s Copper Beech Farm. Result? The 5th Great Community Picnic on Thursday evening, August 5, 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm at Munro Preserve, adjacent to the town wharf.
Mattapoisett Land Trust and Mattapoisett Museum, the event hosts, will provide tables, chairs, tablecloths, and lighting. Bring your own food, utensils, and plates. Creatively transform your table with flowers, napkins, etc. Tables available for 4 ($120), 6 ($180), 8 ($240) or 10 ($300) diners. Buy a table and invite your friends or get your friends to pitch-in for a fun and memorable event for the community. Space is limited – buy a table while they last! For tickets, call Mattapoisett Museum at 508-758-2844 or purchase online at www.mattapoisettmuseum.org/event-info/great-community-picnic. Tickets are also available at the Town Wharf General Store, 10 Water Street. Ticket sales will end on Saturday, July 31, or when we sell out, whichever comes first. Make plans now to join us for this festive memorable evening.