Tired of climbing the walls and waiting for an all-clear to the movies, restaurants and stores? No better time than the present to engage in a higher quality of life through what nature has right under our socially distanced noses.

            Take a walk.

            There are literally dozens of trails within a 20-minute drive in almost any direction away from or even along the shore.

            The Wanderer’s own Shawn Sweet, manager of the newspaper’s Facebook page and author of “Tri-Town Trek,” is an avid hiker and reports regularly on what’s going on in our natural habitat.

            Sweet, who sits on the Sippican Lands Trust Board and hikes anywhere from 10-15 miles with her husband primarily on weekends, advises proper clothing to avoid mosquito and tick bites, especially if hiking/walking vulnerable areas during vulnerable times of day.

            “I will say, although this time of year lends to mud and bugs, it’s also a great opportunity to explore,” she said. “The Spring Peepers are out and they are singing loud this year. Skunk cabbage is beginning to sprout. The ospreys are returning. 

            “I even caught a glimpse of a river otter swimming along the river at the Church’s Field property in Rochester… wish I had been quick enough with the camera.”

            In addition to East Over Reservation in Marion, Nasketucket Bay State Reservation in Mattapoisett and New Bedford Waterworks in Rochester, the three parks featured below, Sweet lists the following areas among her favorites: Aucoot Woods (White Eagle Parcel in Marion); Haskell Swamp Wildlife Area in Rochester; The Bogs in Mattapoisett; Brandt Island District in Mattapoisett; Osprey Marsh in Marion (a trail accessible to those with limited mobility and physical disabilities); and Great Hill on the Stone Estate in Marion. 

            From her many experiences, we picked three areas accordingly to accessibility inside each of the Tri-Town, Marion, Mattapoisett, and Rochester. The three selections are only the tip of a glorious iceberg and hopefully a portal through which the restless can find new pathways – no pun intended – to healthy living during precarious times.

East Over Reservation: Hales Brook and Sippican River Tracts

            Located at 285 County Road in Marion, the East Over Reservation is a 322-acre network that is owned by the Town of Marion and managed by The Trustees. The land crosses the town line into Rochester, where there is also an entry point. 

            The Marion entry point, accessible via a parking area off of County Road, leads to the Hales Brook and Sippican River Tracts. These well-marked tracts that wind their way through forests and along the Sippican River include 2 1/2 miles of trails and boardwalks.

            There are no facilities, but maps are posted on the trails. Not all East Over property has signage.

            A journey embarks on a boardwalk over a wetlands area and eventually to a choice between two right turns and a left.

            A right turn leads into a network of trails that go through the forest and reconnect; these trails include a rock slab bridge and rocky remnants of glaciers.

            A left turn leads to water views, first Hales Brook and then Sippican River. According to the Buzzards Bay Coalition website (savebuzzardsbay.org), The Trustees plan to extend this trail beyond the cranberry bogs into Rochester.

            East Over Reservation is home to wildlife on the ground and in the air, as hikers have seen deer, fox, mink, muskrat, and waterfowl.

            Visitors may bring their dogs and are asked to comply with local signage.

Nasketucket Bay State Reservation in Mattapoisett

            Nasketucket Bay State Reservation in Mattapoisett is owned and managed by Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and accessible off of 94 Brandt Island Road. Five miles and 200 acres of coastal forests draw eager walkers along its trails through woods, meadows and salt marshes and ultimately to the rocky shores of Nasketucket Bay.

            According to alltrails.com, Nasketucket is an out-and-back trail appropriate for all skill levels and offering not only scenic views but beautiful wildflowers.

            It takes approximately 90 minutes to trace the Bridle, Salt Marsh and Holly trails. The Bridle Trail starts at the parking area, its grass circling through much of Nasketucket an inviting to bicycles and foot. Almost a mile long, the Shaw Farm Trail is accessible to the right and heads north to the Phoenix Bike Trail. Shaw Farm Trail is narrower than Bridle and takes the traveler out to Nasketucket Bay, its rocky shoreline and beach. A large rock marks the entry point to Holly Trail and a ticket back to Bridle Trail and the beginning point.

            Walkers can take their dogs and join with hikers or, depending on the season, horseback riders or cross-country skiers to spectacular views of Buzzards Bay and, to the west, West Island in Fairhaven.

            Many will access by car, but one can bike to the park off of the Mattapoisett Rail Trail. The Buzzards Bay Coalition’s new Shaw Farm Trail connects Nasketucket to the Phoenix Bike Trail in Fairhaven.

            Dogs must be kept on a leash.

New Bedford Waterworks in Rochester

            New Bedford Waterworks, covering 842 acres, is owned and managed by the City of New Bedford but is located and accessible from inside the Town of Rochester. Part of the protected Assawompset Pond Complex, New Bedford Waterworks protects an important public drinking-water supply for nearly 250,000 people in the region. Swimming and paddling are prohibited to protect the clean waters.

            On land, visitors ride bicycles and horses, or walk, ski or snowshoe, depending on the season, along the roads and wooded pathways. At the end of the trail, hikers enjoy a small beach and also fish.

            Trails are accessible from a parking North Rochester Congregational Church, located at 247 North Avenue. Roadside parking is allowed at any fire road entrance gate (R1-18) that is not marked “no admittance.” Please avoid block gates or fire lanes.

            To access the R10 gate to enter the Waterworks, walk the trail from the back of the church parking lot alongside North Avenue. At the gate begins Tinkogkukquas Trail, a sandy path that weaves its way for .7 miles into the woods to Great Quittacas Pond via Atuk Trail to the right and Namas Way to the left.

            Trails are marked at the entry point but not along the trails so a map is advised. Lakeville Town Clerk’s Office offers a map of the Assawompset Pond Complex for only $2.

            Dogs must be kept on a leash and on the paths.

            As with all public parks, remember no motored vehicles, please carry out what you carry in, and a final reminder to respect all signage indicating private property.

            For more information on the many trails in the region, link to “Tri-Town Trek” at wanderer.com and on our Facebook page.

By Mick Colageo

            All the news regarding COVID-19 has brought back memories of my childhood illnesses, contagious diseases that were cared for and confined at home. Chickenpox, measles, mumps, scarlet fever, ear and throat infections, “the grippe” and seasonal fevers. Yes, I’ve suffered them all and survived, in no small part thanks to my mother’s nursing skills.

            At the first sign of emerging illness, the victim would be comfortably confined to the living room couch, which had been dressed with fresh sheets and a blanket. From this central vantage point, Ma would monitor the patient as she went about her other household duties. Cool compressions and fresh glasses of water were always at the ready with a heavy dose of “Don’t move!” She believed in full body rest.

            Stationed beside the water glass and thermometer would be a stack of coloring books and crayons and picture books to keep a young mind engaged and tamp down whining outbursts of, “I’m bored!”

            If whatever ailed her child wasn’t responding to oceans of clear fluids, aspirin tablets and/or a diet restricted to mashed bananas and toast, the family doctor would be called in for a second opinion.

            In the afternoon the doctor would make his rounds visiting homes with sick children. “What do we have here,” he’d say with a cheery tone meant to inspire trust. That didn’t always work, however. He’d check our temperature, feel our neck glands, confirm Ma’s diagnosis and basically tell her to keep up the good work. “Give it a couple more days,” and he’d hasten to the next patient in his district.

            Occasionally the doctor would have to return due to a secondary infection, something that seemed to happen to me throughout my early years. Ear and throat infections were roaring problems. The use of antibiotics had only recently been advanced as a possible cure. When those were administered, via injection, the relief a mere 24 hours later was amazing.

            All the while, Ma kept up her nursing routines. I wonder now when she slept.

            Bed baths including oral hygiene were strictly adhered to. She’d gently comb my hair, “That will make you feel better,” she’d murmur. With a clean face and hands, back rub with cooling alcohol and combed hair I did feel better. Ma was determined to return her children to health. It was both physical and spiritual healing.

            The tragedy my parents lived through with the passing of a baby boy two years before I was born never really left them. Dad never spoke of it until decades later when his mind began to recall only past events. Ma spoke about it often when I was a child.

            Ma talked about the horror of watching her infant slowly creep towards the end of what would be a very short stay in her arms. In 1948 surgery for congenital heart defects was unheard of. Her baby was removed from the home to die in a hospital room far from its mother’s screams. Ma really never stopped screaming for that baby or hearing its plaintive yelps. She’d tell me as she sat in her wheelchair after being admitted into nursing home care, “I hear a baby crying at night.”

            When I came along, a somewhat weak little infant born during a snowstorm, Ma’s maternal instincts kicked into high gear. This baby would live. Though my struggles were all minimal compared to those the baby boy had faced, Ma treated each event like a life-or-death struggle.

            My crib was placed next to the bed my parents shared. I know this because I was still sleeping beside them when I was about three or four years of age. Ma was taking no chances. I clearly remember standing up in the cot and looking at my sleeping parents. I must have made a sound because the next thing I remember was Ma nestling me between her and Dad. Her sweetly smelling, talcum-powdered skin and Dad’s earthy arms are forever imprinted in my memory.

            As the years went by, Ma made sure I didn’t scratch my body when chickenpox made my skin crawl. She chased away the high fever associated with measles with ice packs and aspirins. She made gallons of hot tea, trays of dry toast, mugs of bullion, cooling cubes of frozen orange juice. Ma watched with anxious expressions and nursed with conviction.

            When the crisis had passed, the war against disease once again a victory to be celebrated, she resumed her normal routines. The couch became just a couch, no longer ground zero on Ma’s war against illnesses.

            Years later when my own child would need the care and comfort only available from a diligent parent, I knew what to do. I had learned at the elbow of a master of practical nursing – Priscilla Lorraine Billard Newell.

This Mattapoisett Life

By Marilou Newell

            While bearing down and creating responses to the hypothetical challenges thrown their way by judges in a statewide business contest, Old Rochester Regional High School students Ryu Huynh-Aoyama and Eddie Gonet felt no pressure.

            They were in Boston with 19 other ORR students to compete, but that was a fact to celebrate because creating the Tri-Town high school’s DECA program was the real test that they had already passed to make the appearance in Boston possible.

            “It was an excellent experience; it felt so great to be there,” said Gonet. “I wasn’t too stressed out about it. I didn’t expect much because it was (the first year for ORR).”

            Gonet, a 15-year-old sophomore, took second place in his individual category at the state competition held among 500 students on February 27-29 at the Prudential Center. Huynh-Aoyama had a better score in district competition in Hyannis than he had in Boston, but the opportunity to take this test was gravy.

            “In the end, I was more proud of our chapter as a whole… it was our maiden voyage, the first year. We did well despite not having the proper (background). That was something I was really proud to see in my chapter,” said Huynh-Aoyama. “To go to states you must be in the top seven in your category. Internationals it’s top five. Logistically, a lot of (competitors) get cut off that way. In all honestly, I don’t have any regrets.” 

            The greater challenge for this partnership was in getting ORR’s DECA chapter off the ground.

            Originally known as the Distributive Education Clubs of America, the international organization DECA is now a major extracurricular at ORR with 50 strong filling advisor Alyssa Whitney’s homeroom on Fridays after school.

            “For me what’s really cool is I teach chemistry so I see them in all of my classes, I always see them in that sort of setting and situations so it’s been really cool to see that same set of kids… moving into something completely different,” said Whitney. “The cool thing about DECA is they have categories they can pick… real interests. entrepreneurship, social media marketing, fashion. It lets me know my students a little bit better.”

            Behind the football team, marching band and drama club, Whitney estimates that the crowd packing her homeroom for DECA meetings ranks “like a close number four. It’s a good thing that I have a giant classroom,” she said.

            Coming to Old Rochester after a year teaching in East Boston, Whitney had familiarity with DECA via her boyfriend, ORR graduate Casey McKenzie, who had participated in DECA while attending UMass Dartmouth.

            There were students that Gonet and Huynh-Aoyama had gotten interested in the club that were in Whitney’s homeroom.

            “Even though we don’t have business classes, ORR has other classes that helped prepare them as well,” said Whitney. “Even though they didn’t take finance or marketing, they were able to do so well at the other skills that they have.”

            Before coronavirus precautions led to the cancellation of extracurricular activities and ultimately school altogether, Whitney met with the DECA group every Friday after school. In her second year as advisor, Whitney was joined by colleague Beth Trout.

            Garnering that advisory support did not come easily to Huynh-Aoyama, a senior who had been trying to get DECA started since he was a freshman. Having grown up in Wareham and expecting to join a well-established DECA chapter, Huynh-Aoyama’s family moved to Mattapoisett when he was in sixth grade.

            “I was a bit disappointed,” he said, knowing even then that ORR did not have the DECA program. “It’s a great school – don’t get me wrong, but it’s still a small school and because of that we don’t have the business set that most schools offer.”

            Huynh-Aoyama spent his freshman year trying to find support.

            “I was a bit discouraged at first so I was slowly reaching out to my friends in other schools… how they started DECA,” he said. “I learned that originally I was doing it alone, solo. I needed a team. 

            “Teamwork leads to teamwork. It was my junior year that I came across Eddie… the ball started to roll.”

            Now they are DECA co-founders and co-presidents.

            A Fairhaven resident, Gonet was looking for a high school with a business program and his choice came down to Bishop Stang and ORR. Despite not having a business program, ORR won out.

            “When I got there Ryu approached me. Ryu said, ‘Eddie, I’ve been trying to start a DECA here, but I haven’t been very successful,'” Gonet recalled.

            Teamwork was their answer,

            Initially, near the end of the 2018-19 school year, before ORR’s DECA chapter had become official, Huynh-Aoyama had a meeting with ORR Principal Mike Devoll and Superintendent of Schools Doug White.

            They needed members, and they needed an advisor. Once the latter was in place, the growth of the former has been steady.

            “In all honesty, there isn’t an exact moment, but I feel like over time (we) slowly built up more members,” said Huynh-Aoyama.”Junior year we had a lot of people interested. ‘Hey, this is what we’re doing, would you like to do it?'”

            The answer was often yes.

            Huynh-Aoyama and Gonet made it a mission to educate their classmates and, by word of mouth, slowly spread the message throughout the hallways.

            DECA sells itself at this point.

            “We’re always looking for new members, but ever since the start, our focus has always been on teaching the members we have,” said Huynh-Aoyama. “We ourselves, it’s our current members who do the marketing of DECA for us. It’s a business lesson to itself. I feel like in so much business if you focus on what we’re doing.”

            What they are doing is real-world type things, addressing problems and challenges, finding solutions, collaborating and learning how the real world works.

            Those tasks may be the kind that make tycoons or the kind that help manage everyday life handling personal finances.

            “The students in the program – no one knows what is a credit score, how to do taxes or anything like that. We don’t have a personal finances course. That’s why we wanted to start DECA for students to have,” said Gonet.

            Competition is often part of the real business world so the contests, while a fun activity for the fledgling group, is an important facet. For Gonet, the state competition was a dress rehearsal for things he expects to do after education. 

            “You wait in a line – they give you a certain time to be there – then you go into a room, they give you an event situation,” he explained. 

            The subject was business administration and management, and the question was about the importance of professional development and why a business should implement it. Gonet had 10 minutes to prepare a response.

            “In the competition, when you’re talking to the judge, it’s like a job interview or a typical day on the job,” said Gonet, emphasizing the importance of things like an introductory handshake. “One time the judge had a cast on (his hand) and I didn’t know what to do so I shook his cast. He really liked that.”

            There was a mini awards session on Friday, February 28, and a larger presentation on Saturday, February 29.

            Two-thirds of a school’s score was determined by performance in two role-play situations, and a 100-question business exam taken at ORR determined the other third. 

            Gonet, Mary Butler and Teddy Carroll were among ORR students whose state-competition performances qualified them for international competition that was to be hosted this year by Nashville, Tennessee, before the coronavirus outbreak canceled the continuing competition.

            School closure due to the coronavirus will also postpone “Cause Day,” which was scheduled for Friday, April 3. The scenic event held in 19 different tents on the high school track gives students 18 different charities to raise money in the community for donations. 

            “The nice thing about this is it’s all about choice,” said Gonet, alluding to local, regional and worldwide charities. DECA planned to participate in the event, in which all involved students wear the color symbolizing their chosen charity.

            Gonet says DECA had told the ORR chapter it is on a five-year pilot program. “We’ll give you five years to get one class at ORR. I’m not quite confident, but I think they’ll extend the deadline,” he said.

            Had international competition been held, Huynh-Aoyama would not have taken up his invitation, having given it over to a younger student that could benefit more greatly from the training at the event.

            His dream job is to, “start my own business and build something of my own. I want to create something that can help other people as well. I feel like DECA is my prototype.”

            Huynh-Aoyama’s dream for ORR is a business curriculum. “From this year onward, I strongly feel that the current DECA members in our chapters will be able to initiate and start those business classes,” he said.

            Told he has created a monster, Huynh-Aoyama answered, “hopefully one that outlasts me.”

By Mick Colageo