‘It’s All About the Animals’ Donations

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During these uncertain times, shelter animals still need to be looked after and fed. As the weather starts getting warmer, cats who have not been spayed or neutered will start having kittens, often outside. That’s where our shelter comes in. It’s All About the Animals, Inc., is a cage-free, no-kill nonprofit cat shelter which relies on volunteers and donations to help feed and look after our kittens, their moms if we have them, and our resident cats. We encourage people to go to our web site www.itsallabouttheanimals.org or to our Facebook page www.facebook.com/Itsallabouttheanimalsinc to make a Paypal or Credit card donation. Donations are crucial to help us with veterinary bills, medical and cleaning supplies, as well as overall care. Cat and kitten food is also appreciated and people can find out what our Shelter needs, by visiting our AmazonSmile program, also accessible through our website. Checks can be mailed directly to our shelter at 103 Marion Road, Rochester MA 02770. Our Shelter will be closed to visitors for the foreseeable future due to the COVID-19 situation. We will continue to update that information, online, in the next few weeks. In the meantime, you can contact our Shelter by emailing ohnokitty1@gmail.com.

            Our shelter operates solely on your generous donations. Please consider helping our cause. 100 percent of your donation will provide food, supplies, and medical care. We don’t have any paid employees – only volunteers. We give abused and abandoned animals the opportunity to receive the love, care, and shelter they need until they find homes. Our cats have space to run, play, and explore safe enclosed outdoor areas. When available for adoption, our cats have been spayed/neutered and will have received all vaccines for distemper and rabies. Each cat is given a microchip and registered with a professionally managed database.

Rochester Land Trust

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As a precaution, the Rochester Land Trust is postponing the Annual Meeting that was scheduled for March 26. We apologize for the inconvenience and we will reschedule at a later date when able.

State of Emergency Declared in Mattapoisett

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Using remote-access platforms to conduct the town’s public business, the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen declared a state of emergency in Mattapoisett on March 19, 2020. Selectmen Jordan Collyer and chairman Paul Silva voted unanimously to accept the following that, upon their acceptance, would be sent on to the State House for approval.

            The declaration comes on the heels of Governor Baker declaring a state of emergency in Massachusetts and gives municipalities certain rights that will help financially and materially support cities and towns until the emergency period is over. It would allow communities to apply for county, state, and federal assistance programs.

            It reads in part: “Whereas the outbreak of COVID-19 and the risk to person-to-person transmission throughout the United States and the Commonwealth significantly affects the safety of the public; and… on March 10, 2020, Governor Baker announced emergency actions to respond to the COVID-19 emergency, including prohibitions on public gatherings, prohibiting on-premises consumption of food and drink at bars and restaurants, as well as suspension of elementary and secondary school…from March 17, 2020, to April 6, 2020; the Board of Selectmen has determined that COVID-19 presents a major disaster which poses an immediate threat to public health, safety, and general welfare of people residing both within and outside the town…the Selectmen have determined that immediate public action is needed in order to prevent and mitigate the spread of COVID-19 by and among the people of Mattapoisett; declaring a state of emergency will facilitate and expedite the use of resources to protect persons from the impacts of COVID-19 including but not limited to emergency expenditures…and the limitations on operating hours and access to public buildings – a state of emergency be declared.”

            The town’s new administrator, Mike Lorenco, drafted the declaration and read it for the selectmen who both called into the meeting.

            More than a week ago Governor Baker modified open-meeting rules during this emergency, granting cities and towns the flexibility of conducting business without being physically located in the same public space.

            Also present assisting with technical navigation through the meeting was former Town Administrator Mike Gagne, who will be staying on to help Lorenco during the transition process including finalization of the FY21 budget and the fall town meeting.

Tri-Town Closes Public Doors

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            Appointed and elected officials in Marion, Mattapoisett, and Rochester have held their meetings and emerged with likeminded strategies to maximize public safety amidst the COVID-19, aka coronavirus outbreak.

            By Tuesday, March 17, all three of the Tri-Town communities had closed the doors of public facilities and enacted plans to deploy essential staff only.

            The Marion Board of Selectmen met on Monday afternoon, the Rochester Board of Selectmen on Monday night, while Mattapoisett selectmen were scheduled to meet on Wednesday morning.

            “It’s been a completely overwhelming day,” said Marion Town Administrator Jay McGrail at Monday’s meeting.

            Tuesday he was happy to tell the Wanderer that Marion’s reverse 911 call generated 12 responses, some in regard to the town’s new foodbank at the Cushing Community Center.

            On Monday night, Rochester Town Administrator Suzanne Szyndlar told the town’s Board of Selectmen that she recommends a state of emergency because it is proactive, “allows the town to have access to funds,” citing emergency clauses that kick in. “Basically, this is not about panic, but placing the town in a position of greater flexibility,” she said.

            A motion passed, and Rochester’s state of emergency effective March 16 will remain in effect until further notice from the town.

            Only a few hours earlier, McGrail reported having sought advice for Marion about an emergency order but relented, citing the unwanted spread of panic in that community. “The advice right now is there is no value,” he told the Board of Selectmen.

            Marion and Mattapoisett town halls closed at 4:00 pm on Monday, March 16, and Rochester effective March 17. All will remain closed until April 6, the common date for area communities to revisit the coronavirus threat and determine if municipal buildings or public meetings should be opened or any regular services restored.

            Like Marion and Rochester, Mattapoisett is formulating plans so that the public can continue interacting with town employees, making the townspeople aware of emails, direct phone lines, drop-off boxes for payments, etc. The employees will be present, but the public will not be allowed into the buildings. For information, Mattapoisett residents can call 508-758-4100.

            Marion has established a hotline (508-748-3570) for residents aimed primarily at making sure people know how to access the foodbank. People may contact the Councils on Aging for food distribution. Curbside collection and transfer station schedules will remain unchanged. The COA will be open from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm only to calls.

            Marion is also working on a program to allow students of Sippican and Old Rochester schools to pick up lunches, and also has the ability to expand its Meals on Wheels program.

            On March 16, Rochester sent out a comprehensive notice for residents in light of its closures.

            Although Town Hall and Annex offices are closed to the public until further notice, Rochester residents can call 508-763-3871 for assistance during normal business hours.

            Rochester COA building is closed and all programs and activities are canceled until further notice, but meals distributed through the COA and medical transportation (for healthy seniors) will continue. Call 508-763-8723.

            Plumb Library staff will be available by phone from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm at 508-763-8600.

            Rochester’s Conservation Commission meeting scheduled for March 17 was canceled, and all cases were continued to April 7.

            Citing Governor Baker’s loosening of the state’s open-meetings law requiring a quorum and that participants meet in the same room, Marion has hired Go to Meeting to set up a function for conference call.

            “Even though we’re a small group… we need our group to be as healthy as possible,” said McGrail, who hopes that the next Board of Selectmen’s meeting scheduled for Thursday, March 19, will be held on conference call via Go to Meeting. McGrail signed up Marion for the basic audio function, which can be expended to video conferencing.

            While Rochester is exploring a similar option, Mattapoisett has decided against conferencing its public meetings. On March 16, Andy Bobola, the Mattapoisett’s director of inspectional services, was awaiting word from legal counsel as to whether or not the town could use a web-based platform for public hearings. That decision has been made in the negative at least for now. As of March 17, Mattapoisett has canceled all public hearings until further notice.

            One concern any town would face in streaming public meetings is once applications are accepted the clock starts ticking on how quickly boards of appeal respond to applications. Failure to do so could lead to legal action against a town for not acting in a timely manner, so such wrinkles require careful planning.

            Mattapoisett’s next Zoning Board of Appeals meeting originally scheduled for Thursday, March 19, was to include a public hearing on a significant solar project. That was before all public meetings were canceled in Mattapoisett.

            “A lot has changed in the last couple of days,” McGrail told Marion’s Board of Selectmen on Monday. “I have no preconceived notion that things will be better and we’ll be out of this in a week.”

            Police and Fire will remain open in Marion, but McGrail requests that people please call ahead.

            The list of essential employees only starting on March 17 will change on a daily basis depending on the staff needed to answer phones, take emergency calls and deal with payroll and town finances. 

            “Some employees who are home this week may need to come in next week,” said McGrail, who will ask the staff to check voicemail hourly, first for emergency calls that may not have been routed correctly and, secondly, for cases in which it becomes possible to do some of their work from home.

            Marion’s Department of Public Works will likewise be closed to the public. Some DPW staff will stay home, some will come into the office for essential duties only. “We’re still trying to operate according to DPW requirements and respond to emergencies,” said McGrail.

            Marion’s Harbormaster department will stay on call, and there will be individuals making daily checks for illegal fishing.

            The latest from Mattapoisett is no transportation for shopping, only for healthy people and only to medical appointments.

            All such matters were subject to a Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen meeting planned for Wednesday, March 18.

            For up-to-date information, visit www.mattapoisett.net, continue to check the COAs Facebook page or call 508-758-4110 with any questions.

Board of Selectmen Meetings

By Mick Colageo

Marion Establishes a Foodbank

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            Marion’s new foodbank operating out of the otherwise-closed Community Center emanated from an announcement that Town Administrator Jay McGrail made, telling an Emergency Preparedness Meeting on March 13 that the town would be releasing funds from its reserve account to develop a foodbank plan that, by the end of the day, he hoped would be fully developed.

            On Monday, March 16, McGrail reported success to the Board of Selectmen during its 3:00 pm meeting at Town House. He doubled down on the message March 17, noting 12 responses to Marion’s reverse 911 call.

            The foodbank, at the Cushing Community Center, 465 Mill Street, has been set up to distributing arranged bags of groceries from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday. Bags are categorized for families of four and families of two. The town asks residents when pulling up to the Center to stay in their vehicles, show proof of residency, and let volunteers know how many members are in their family.

            The town notified Marion residents in need who are unable to make it to the Center or feel unsafe going out may call 508-748-3570 and arrangements will be made to assist those residents.

            Senior citizens wishing to receive a daily home-delivered meal provided by Coastline Elderly Services are invited to call 508-748-3570 to sign up for the program.

            The emergency preparedness team meeting on Friday morning, March 13, included Old Rochester Regional Superintendent of Schools Doug White, public health officials including Public Health Nurse Kathleen Downie, Board of Health members including Vice Chairperson Edward P. Hoffer, MD, representatives from the Fire and Police departments, Board of Selectmen member Norman Hills and Assistant Town Administrator Judy Mooney.

            Hoffer, a practicing physician, was told not to travel to Boston so he has made himself available to the Board of Health and was nominated Friday morning as chief coordinator for Marion’s emergency-preparedness effort.

            Downie continues to remind people that if people think they are sick or think they have the coronavirus, they need to call their doctor first and not to go to the emergency room without calling ahead. “We don’t want anyone going to the doctor without calling first,” she told the meeting.

            At the time of the meeting, Old Rochester Regional High School had yet to suspend school per order of Governor Charlie Baker (that would come later that evening), opting at the time to conduct classroom work only. White told the meeting that the “education that will now be provided is essential education.”

            White did caution the meeting that if any school in the district was to close, all would close and there would be no online alternative from home. Effectively, public education would be suspended. When asked by the Wanderer, “What about seniors?” White answered, “Fill in the blanks.”

            The subject of students on reduced or free lunch programs was also discussed.

            “We are at the very beginning of this. We have a long way to go to get to the top of the curve,” said Downie, noting that, while cancelations are a stop-gap measure, a brief school closure might not be effective, adding, “I would be surprised if it’s over in two months.”

            Hours before Tabor Academy announced its plan to extend its current suspension of school per its academic calendar to April 13, McGrail reported having asked the Tabor administration to provide a written plan before the students return. 

            Hoffer wondered aloud if Marion could overrule the prep school if the plans Tabor brings forward in response to McGrail’s request are considered inadequate. McGrail answered, “Yes.” Tabor has many students returning from outside the country.

            Marion will arrange for transportation through the Council on Aging for seniors for doctor appointments, but not for grocery shopping. Effective March 13, the town was also looking to expand restrictions on the Meals on Wheels program.

Emergency Preparedness Meeting

By Marilou Newell

Mattapoisett Congregational Church Suspends Services & Activities

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On Friday, March 13, Pastor Amy Lignitz Harken, and Phil Jackson, Chair of the Council at the Mattapoisett Congregational Church (MCC), jointly announced the suspension of all activities taking place at the Church for the next two weeks. After much discussion, Church leadership determined that the best course of action, at this time of great stress and anxiety surrounding the coronavirus, was to suspend activities. This includes worship services on Sunday, March 15 and Sunday, March 22, fellowship activities including Open Table, and classes including the Lenten series on Sunday and Monday evenings, as well as all the organizations that utilize the building.

            Jackson said, “This was not an easy decision.  As people of faith, coming together is important for our spiritual health, as well as our mental and emotional health, especially in times of crisis. Our plan was to continue as many activities as possible. However, it has become abundantly clear that the safest, most prudent course of action is simply to comply with the recommendations of health experts.”  

            Reverend Harken joined him in expressing regret and concern for everyone affected by the health crisis and encouraged others to “stay connected with each other via telephone, e-mail, and social media. We are eager to be back to a normal schedule as soon as possible. In the coming days, we will make whatever adjustments are necessary to bring peace of mind about worshipping and meeting at the Church.”

            Should there be questions or concerns you would like to express, please contact the Church by telephone (508-758-2671) and someone will return your call as quickly as possible. 

Friends of Old Rochester Music Concerts

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            Each spring, the ORR School District holds two large concerts in which music students and teachers from every school in the district perform separately first, then together for a large audience of family, friends, and community. While the concert series’ ticket sales earn money for FORM scholarships and programs, the concerts present a unique opportunity for younger students to see what is in store for them if they commit to the chorus, an instrument or both! The Choral concert featured several soloists and small groups of singers. Although the crowd was thinner due to public health concerns, the event was well-attended by school faculty and administrators including Superintendent of Schools, Douglas R. White, Jr. and incoming Superintendent of Schools, Mike Nelson, M.Ed. 

            In advance of the concert, Dr. White sent a schoolwide email outlining the ORR District’s recommendations to attend only if feeling healthy and free of cold symptoms.  

            With the FORM Instrumental concert canceled on Tuesday, not only will many music students miss out on the opportunity to perform, but there will be a shortfall in FORM’s scholarship account. Ticket sales for the Instrumental concert provide around $3,500 for scholarships for graduating seniors. Please consider donating to FORM, attending an upcoming concert (pending on spring schedule updates) or supporting our Music for your Mouth fundraiser at Chipotle, currently scheduled for April 1 from 4:00 to 8:00 pm. Please see FORM website or Facebook page for details.   

            F.O.R.M. (Friends of Old Rochester Music) is a non-profit, all-volunteer booster group for music students in the Old Rochester Regional School District. Together with our local community, our efforts raise funds to provide scholarship awards to graduating music students, support performance opportunities, and purchase additional equipment and supplies beyond the regular budget. At the junior and high school levels, F.O.R.M. works directly with the music directors, providing volunteers and financial support to supplement the music programs. Being a F.O.R.M. volunteer provides parents, guardians, and friends an integral role in their student’s musical education experience. We invite you to visit our website and learn more about this dynamic organization. Please join us for an upcoming event or concert performance. 

Tri-Town Basketball Playoffs

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The Tri-Town Basketball Playoffs on Thursday, March 12 was the final night for Tri-Town basketball. The league had over 190 participants in grades 3 through 6 from Mattapoisett, Marion and Rochester. 

            The first game of the evening was the girls grade 3-6 finals. Team Sparks coached by Sarabeth Morrell played the Mystics coached by Tim Harkins. It was a very close game through the third quarter when Team Sparks pulled ahead 12-9. In the fourth quarter, the Mystics came out strong and brought the score to 11-12 in the first two minutes of the quarter. A Mystics foul shot tied the game with 2:46 remaining. The Sparks scored with 2:29 left to go, up 14-12 then a foul shot brought the final score to 15-12. The high scorer for team Sparks was Alivia Miranda with 8 points. 

            The boys grade 3 and 4 final had the Raptors coached by Evan Dube and Chris Wadsworth playing the Heat, coached by David Arancio and Sarah Thomas. The Raptors came out strong and went up 4-0 in the first three minutes. The Heat then rallied to go up 7-4 by the end of the quarter. The second quarter had the Raptors hit three shots and two free throws to go up 12-9 to end the half. The Heat came out strong to go up 13-12. Both teams had a strong quarter to end the third, tied 19-19. Both teams played a hard, defensive battle in the fourth quarter but the Raptors pulled ahead to win 24-22. High scorer for the Raptors was Nathan Dubuc with 12 points. Heat high scorer was Andrew Hebert with 10 points. 

            The boys grade 5 and 6 final had the Warriors coached by Jen Porter and Lindsay Harding playing the Bulls coached by Peter Brzezinski and Jill Paquette.  The Warriors took an early four-point lead, but the Bulls came back to finish the quarter tied 4-4. The second quarter was a back and forth battle to end, with the Warriors up 9-8. After the half, both teams played hard and the score at the end of the third was tied 13-13. The Warriors scored early in the fourth quarter to go up 15-13 but the Bulls answered with two baskets and a foul shot to go up 18-15 with about three minutes left. The Bulls then went on a run to win 26-16. Brock Winslow was the high scorer for the Bulls with 10 points. Bennett Goodwin was the top scorer for the Warriors with eight points.  

            All three games were close right up until the final minutes. It was an exciting night for all. A huge thank you to all of our coaches for volunteering their time!

FCCR Cancels Events But Keeps Spiritual Doors Open

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After prayerful consideration and in compliance with government directives, First Congregational Church of Rochester, 11 Constitution Way in Rochester, has closed its church buildings in an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19. All services and activities held at FCCR — including the Easter Community Carnival scheduled for Saturday, March 28 – have been canceled or postponed until further notice. 

            Our physical doors may be closed, but our spiritual doors remain open to everyone during this ongoing health crisis. We recognize that these are very challenging and unprecedented times, and our desire is to bring support and hope to those in the Tri-Town and surrounding area. Check out our public Facebook page (www.facebook.com/FirstCongregationalChurchofRochester) for uplifting and encouraging posts and to watch our new pastor, Colby Olson, livestream Biblical and relevant messages at 10:00 am each Sunday. In need of prayer? Prayer requests will be accepted by calling the church office at 508-763-4314 or emailing rochestercongregational@comcast.net.

A Plan for Tomorrow

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Welcome to the latest edition of The Wanderer! As with pretty much everything these days, The Wanderer is treading new ground and sailing uncharted seas in response to our ever-changing world. The first thing we’d like to do is congratulate everyone on their proactive response to our new world challenge. What we do today isn’t just about us – although not getting sick would be a bonus – it’s about helping others. We hope our actions will save lives and keep our system from getting overloaded. Good for you!

            By now you have been flooded with the standard COVID-19 updates telling you how each and every one of the dozens of businesses you have contact with will assist in your staying healthy. With that in mind, we will keep our response short and to the point. First and foremost for our readers, The Wanderer is available online. Many of our readers already know this as we have almost twice as many people who download each week’s edition as we print copies; for this, we thank you and the trees thank you! If you haven’t already checked out the online edition, you can see them at www.wanderer.com – just click on “read the full edition.” On our website, there is a Portable Document Format (PDF) version of our paper as well as a Page Flip version, should you really enjoy flipping virtual pages, which is really cool. We also offer a mobile edition through The Wanderer app, which allows you to read each week’s edition on your iPad or iPhone. To find this visit the Apple App Store and search for ‘Wanderer’ or click on the link on our web page.

            For the next few weeks, we are increasing our direct mailings of The Wanderer throughout the TriTown. While costly, we hope that this change helps keep folks at home by bringing the news to them directly. This shift also helps our advertisers, many of whom are small businesses struggling to make it through these limited times. If your business is looking to stay in touch, now is a great time to advertise. Get in touch so we can help you get the word out.

            There are many other ways you can keep yourself and others safe while still supporting local business. Many of the restaurants in our area are offering take-out or delivery, now that sit-down service has been curtailed. You can also support small businesses by buying gift certificates.

            While some of us, who have introverted tendencies, have been practicing for this pretty much all our lives, some folks are very social and need to stay in touch. Use this time to reach out by phone, email, and message. By doing this, you are supporting your friends and growing relationships in ways you may never have done during a busy schedule.

            Should you need to get in touch with our office you can do so by emailing office@wanderer.com or calling 508-758-9055 (please leave a message if we are not in and we will get back in touch as soon as we can). As always, you can manage any advertisements on our website, wanderer.com, and manage bills and payments from the convenience of your computer.

            We would like to transition this period of isolation from a time when everyone is telling you what you can’t do, to showing you what you can do. With that in mind, we invite everyone to share their stories, photos, and ideas with us so we can share them with our community. We always reflect on simpler times when we had time to sit back and read and relax; well, that time is now. We will do our best to keep you informed, entertained and our local businesses strong during these changing times. We hope that one day we will look back on this time fondly as the time when we all acted together, to be separate for the common good.