Mattapoisett to Enlist Seniors to Inspect Recycling

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Mattapoisett residents are being asked to improve their recycling practices ahead of a new program that entails a curbside visual inspection of residents’ recycling bins on recycling day.

But don’t start calling them the “recycling police” just yet.

Mattapoisett Health Agent Dale Barrows intends on soliciting the services of some active seniors who sign up for the Senior Work-Off Abatement Program to travel across Mattapoisett to designated areas each recycling day to lift the lid on your recycling bin to get a peek at whether you’re an offender of contaminated recycling – un-rinsed plastic, glass, and metal cans, or the presence of items that just don’t belong in the bin, such as plastic coat hangers or plastic bags.

With the help of a $22,000 state-funded Smart Recycling Grant, Mattapoisett will first establish a public outreach educational initiative through postcard mailings, the printed media, and television programming that will guide Mattapoisett residents specifically on what is allowed and what is not allowed into the recycling bin.

The first mailing will be sent out in the summer during the July tax bill cycle. The Board of Health is considering at least one public educational meeting on recycling and the Town’s educational outreach, and hopes that, like Fairhaven’s claim of an 82% reduction in recycling contamination after implementing its own Smart Recycling program, Mattapoisett will see similar positive results.

The board viewed a draft of that postcard during its January 22 meeting, with a couple of tentative updates pointed out by Assistant Board of Health Agent Kate Tapper.

Tapper said the public needs to be updated on some items that are no longer accepted into the recycling stream, such as medication bottles, and those small plastic film windows on envelopes now need to be torn out and thrown away before being placed in the recycling bin.

“So, it gets a little bit confusing,” said Tapper. “It’s gotten very, very specific on what you can and what you cannot put in.”

Some are still bagging recyclables in plastic bags, said Health Agent Dale Barrows – a definite no-no and “the biggest violation” that residents are committing. This prompted Board of Health member Carmelo Nicolosi to wonder if that educational post card should feature what is NOT allowed in the recycling bin instead of what IS allowed.

The board hopes to reach the folks who are less inclined to recycle or recycle properly – those residents whose lives may be busy, as well as those “wishcyclers,” said Barrows – people who put stuff that they think should be recycled into the bin, even if those items are not allowed.

But it’s not the Board of Health’s objective to punish people for not recycling properly – after all, Mattapoisett residents are already being punished via higher recyclables disposal costs imposed by the recycling hauler, ABC Disposal, which the Town of Mattapoisett is currently fighting in an ongoing legal battle.

No, the Board of Health simply wants to educate people on how to recycle, and then follow-up by monitoring residents’ behavior, bringing awareness to those who still might not have heard, read, or seen instructions on how to recycle the right way.

“It’s going to be an educational program, first,” said Barrows. After, Barrows envisions two fit, active, willing seniors to travel through Mattapoisett to inspect people’s recycling. Those bins found to contain items that do not belong will be at the curb, and a sticker left on the bin explaining that the recycling is unacceptable, with feedback on what the resident did wrong.

The program, Tapper emphasized, is to educate specifically Mattapoisett residents, as other towns may have other recycling restrictions. Still, she acknowledged, once the program gets underway, “We’re going to get a lot of phone calls.”

“People are gonna get upset about it if [their bin] gets refused,” Barrows concurred.

“As long as they know ahead of time this is what you have to do,” said Tapper. “I think our residents want to do the right thing, but I think it’s gotten so confusing. The rules have changed.”

The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Board of Health is scheduled for February 19 at 10:00 am at the Mattapoisett Town Hall.

Mattapoisett Board of Health

By Jean Perry

A Future “Eagle” View

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“Three, two, one – go!” shouts the patrol leader trying to reach us through our panting and fatigue. The chilly air nipped at me, but I was too excited to feel it. Through the shouts of scouts, fun activities, and bitter cold, my first Klondike Derby was underway.

The Klondike Derby is a scouting challenge where you pull a 50-pound sledge loaded with necessary equipment to complete your tasks. A fully loaded sledge weighs 75 pounds. As a team, you pull the sledge to different “towns” where you have to complete different activities using your scouting skills while working as a team, and it finally ends with the empty great sledge race – in other words, it was the biggest day of my life.

The Derby kicks off by us checking into the station where they ensure that we have managed the most important lesson you learn in scouts – dressing for the elements. I myself wore extra layers and packed an extra pair of pants, an extra shirt, and an extra pair of socks. You learn quickly that you never want to wear damp socks, so you always bring an extra pair. We also all had hand warmers and toe warmers to ensure that we could manage the bitter air engulfing us. You are constantly moving so the brisk winter air doesn’t seem to bother you as much as when you lose a coveted gold nugget because you didn’t complete a task correctly or in enough time.

Each “town” you visit during your derby has a mayor and judges who explain your challenge to you and how many gold nuggets you can earn. The team or unit with the most gold nuggets at the end of the day wins the Derby. It can be a bit confusing, but by the end of the day, it becomes second nature.

The day was chockfull with scenarios or tasks that challenged me mentally, physically, and socially. I would love to walk you through the Klondike with my favorite stations. First, I went to the town entitled “Dead Horse,” which is First Aid, and we earned 13 out of 12 gold nuggets. How did we get an extra gold nugget? Well, we impressed them so much they gave us an extra gold nugget! We were given the fake scenario that a scout was complaining that his feet hurt and he couldn’t walk during the middle of winter. We brought the “injured” scout into a tent and took off his shoe and found out that he had frostbite. We had to wrap it and tie it securely with a square knot. During the tying, we told the judges various other knots we could use and why we chose the square knot, which is why we were awarded an extra nugget!

“Sourdough” was our next town where we had to tie knots. We got a perfect score because I knew how to do a clove hitch, which my other team members hadn’t learned yet. It felt so great to be able to help them out by knowing a new knot, which saved us since none of us knew how to do a half hitch so we didn’t lose any gold nuggets! I found out after that the half hitch is super easy, so maybe next year we can earn an extra gold nugget like we did at the first aid station!

Next, we went to “Fort Youkan,” which is BB gun shooting and, ironically enough, it was at the archery range. During this challenge, our unit had to take five shots each and we were scored on our accuracy. We got three out of four, which is really good for a group of Cub Scouts participating at a Boy Scout event!

Then we went to “Chill Koot Pass,” which was compass and pace counting. At this station, we needed to look at the paper they gave us with the degrees and the number of feet we had to travel. Using our pace counters, which are these really cool paper dials that tell us how many of our footsteps total one foot, we traveled as a unit following the directions. I wish I could tell you what the tree we were assigned to travel to had on it, but we struggled in this station and we didn’t find our tree. It was a bit disappointing to have not completed the task, but it was still fun to try.

After, we went to “Valley Forge” where we had to cook our lunches over coals. The older scouts are graded on their creativity in their meal prep and clean up, but us younger scouts (I’m a Webelos 2 about to cross over into Boy Scouts) only have to prepare an edible meal over coals using our mess kit and serve it to someone for our nuggets. I made cheese dogs and another scout on my unit made baked beans while another scout perfected a grilled cheese. Our mess kits serve as both a skillet and a plate, which makes for much easier clean up. One Boy Scout team burned a hole in the tarp they had to cook on! I definitely laughed when I saw it.

The rest of the afternoon was quicker than the morning’s activities. We went to towns where we had to work as a team strapped to planks of wood to mimic snowshoes, but all four of us were tied to it! It took a lot of communication and team work to work together to walk around a flagpole back to the starting line within 10 minutes. We didn’t finish within 10 minutes, but we did earn a gold nugget because we didn’t drop a giant plastic egg when we all fell … a million times.

The great race at the end takes place in a large field where everyone runs and pulls their 50-pound sledge as a team. We sadly came in last place in that great race, which was a huge disappointment for me because we tried so hard, but I’m sure next year we’ll win the race!

The Klondike Derby

By Blake Gagne

Mattapoisett Postal Delivery

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To the Editor:

In a recent letter to the Editor a writer expressed frustration that residents of Mattapoisett village do not have mail delivery to their homes and must use a P.O. Box as their address. This causes countless problems getting mail or packages delivered, proving residency and so on. The United States Postal Service which promises to deliver mail through rain, heat, or gloom of night does not deliver to the good citizens of Mattapoisett village and hasn’t for some time.

Having to use both a P.O. Box and a street address is particularly problematical when ordering merchandise from online merchants. Private shipping services have begun transferring packages to the US Postal Service for final local delivery resulting in a proverbial “Catch-22″where mail arrives late or not at all because the USPS does not deliver mail to the street address and the private companies do not deliver to a P.O. Box – a frustrating problem indeed.

The letter writer neglected to mention the additional expense of having to rent a P.O. Box at the Post Office.  I live two houses from the Post Office. To paraphrase an old joke … while I can’t see Russia from by back door, I can see the Post Office; yet, the US Postal Service refuses to deliver to my street address. The annual rental cost for a moderate size mail box is $214.00. Even a smaller letter size box costs $82.00. While these boxes can be rented in three month increments, anyone else who gets their mail delivered to their street address or to a rural style mailbox gets it for free. Repeated inquiries at the Post Office as to why villagers don’t get free delivery elicits shrugged shoulders, blank stares, or the offer of an 800 phone number to call Washington, D.C.

I have recently discovered that the USPS Service Manual Section 4.2.1 states that “The United States Postal Service has made no-fee post office box service available to many customers who are ineligible for carrier delivery” by submitting Form 1093 No-Fee Post Office Box Renewal Notice. It might be worth a try.

Dick Morgado, Mattapoisett

 

                  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.

 

Sorry, BOH … Taber Statue Keeps Her Pipe

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Over the past three years, the Marion Board of Health has banned ‘vaping’ in addition to smoking in public spaces and raised the minimum age to buy cigarettes and nicotine products to 21 before the state mandate. And even today, the board is still bent on pursuing a town-wide prohibition of flavored nicotine and tobacco products. But there remains one Marion resident who the board was unsuccessful in preventing from enjoying her smoke and that woman is Elizabeth Taber. Well, the life-size bronze statue of her, that is.

The ghost of Elizabeth Taber can take another puff off her pipe and breathe easy knowing that the Sippican Historical Society’s statue committee voted unanimously to follow the original design of the Taber statue portraying her seated on a bench clutching her smoking pipe in her hand. In her other hand she holds a book.

On January 22, the Board of Health sat down with Sippican Historical Society member and Celebrate Elizabeth Taber Committee Chairman Judith Rosbe and committee member Amanda Stone, who is also the public health nurse in Mattapoisett. During this meeting, the two women acknowledged the board’s request to remove the pipe from Taber’s hand because of a concern that the pipe would encourage smoking. Nonetheless, as Board of Health member Dr. John Howard put it, “I guess you could say they told us to go put that in your pipe and smoke it.” Which is, in a more a respectful tone, exactly what the two women told them – because the pipe stays.

“We appreciate the letter that you wrote to us,” Rosbe told the board. “I immediately thought, okay, we don’t want any controversy. We really don’t want her to be holding a pipe if that’s going to encourage somebody to smoke.”

During a recent meeting of the statue committee, Rosbe said the artist, New Bedford-based sculptor, Eric Durand, brought in two small-scale 3-dimensional sample arms for the committee to view – one arm’s hand cupped the pipe, and the other would simply sit on Taber’s lap.

“We had a long discussion … and most of the people on the committee woke up one day and said ‘Pipe,’ then woke up the next day and said, ‘No pipe,’” said Rosbe.

Ultimately, the committee’s vote was unanimous – Elizabeth Taber keeps the pipe.

“We really felt in the long run that we wanted to portray her as historically accurate, and she was a very unusual woman,” Rosbe said. “She was a very unusual woman.”

Taber, who lived to the age of 97, was a savvy investor who gained much of her wealth from railroad and whaling ship investments, Rosbe said.

“She had some eccentricities,” said Rosbe. “She was eccentric. She didn’t really care too much about what other people thought of her, and she did smoke a pipe.”

In its December 11 letter to the Sippican Historical Society, Board of Health Chairman Jason Reynolds wrote, “The Marion Board of Health has promulgated regulations banning smoking from all public places. … We feel that if [Taber] is depicted holding a pipe, it would not be compliant with the Marion Sanitary Code.”

In her written reply to the board, Rosbe initially indicated that the statue committee would consider the request. “I suspect that because of your input, we will recommend a change in the design, so that she will hold something else in that hand (or maybe nothing at all) instead of a pipe,” Rosbe wrote.

But once the smoke cleared and the matter was out in the open, the public responded to the board’s request on social media and approached members of the Historical Society with their own opinions.

On behalf of the statue committee, Stone said, “We certainly didn’t want to draw any attention to the pipe. That was never our intention … but we’ve seen that through social media, and people have come up to us and spoken about the pipe – those that are supportive of keeping the pipe and encouraging the committee to do so.”

Capturing the essence of who Taber was during that time period is important, Stone said, since that context is what made Taber so different from other women – which is why the pipe should stay. And also, Stone added, “… to support artistic expression, which, as a committee as whole, determined that was also a very important aspect of our decision making.”

Stone said the committee did some research on how behavior can be influenced by certain elements like violence on TV (or a statue with a pipe, perhaps), “and the fact that the committee voted unanimously to keep the pipe … spoke volumes, so that’s the direction that we’re moving,” Stone said. “The decision’s been made.”

“I don’t know if you’re happy about it or unhappy about it,” said Rosbe, “but thank you for letting us come in today.”

The board sat in silence as Rosbe and Stone left the Town House.

After adjourning the meeting, The Wanderer asked the board if it has any comment on the statue committee’s decision.

“I was always told that if I didn’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all,” said Reynolds.

“I don’t think that the kids will even be able to tell that it’s a pipe, so I don’t think it’s going to make a difference,” said Board of Health member Betsy Dunn.

And as for Howard, he simply had fun coming up with puns involving the words “pipe” and “smoke” for the press to use and credit to his name.

The bronze statue honoring Elizabeth Taber will be unveiled during the summer of 2020 to mark the 100th anniversary of the passing of the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote. It will be located in Bicentennial Park overlooking the Town House and the Elizabeth Taber Library, two of the six buildings Taber has bestowed onto the Town of Marion.

The next meeting of the Marion Board of Health is scheduled for February 12 at 4:30 pm at the Marion Town House.

Marion Board of Health

By Jean Perry

Mary Lee (Love) Trautman

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Mary Lee (Love) Trautman, a longtime Marion resident, passed away peacefully on January 1, 2019. She was born to the late F. Anita and John T Love Jr of Ruxton, MD. She was educated at the Greenwood School for Girls in Ruxton, MD (voted Best Athlete) and was presented at The Baltimore Batchelors’ Cotillion in 1951.

In her early-married life, she was involved in many aspects of faculty and student life at Tabor Academy and Avon Old Farms School. She was a long time member of the Sippican Tennis Club, an avid tennis player, bridge player, beach enthusiast, knitter, and needlepointer. In later years she worked as a travel agent and at Ocean Spray Cranberries.

She is survived by her children Emily T Wood and husband Stephen J Wood of Fairhaven, MA, Timothy L Trautman and partner Joan Blanchard of Simsbury, CT, and Courtney L Trautman and life long partner Sherwood S Hughes of Boston, MA, grandchildren Matthew T Trautman, Jordan M Trautman and husband Nicholas A Umar, Margaret E Trautman and great-grandaughter Hudson V Umar. She is predeceased by, her sister Anita L Barton and her brothers David Love and John T Love, III.

A private memorial will be held in the spring. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent in Mary Lee’s memory to Tobey Hospital, 43 High Street, Wareham, MA. www.wilsonchapel.net

Tabor Academy Rallies to Support Coast Guard

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After hearing story after story of how Coast Guard families are being negatively affected by the federal shutdown, Tabor Academy librarian Ann Richard took her concern and put it into action, contacting the Cape Cod Military Support Foundation to ask how the Tabor community might help. When she learned that the greatest need is for toiletries, baby food, wipes, diapers, along with other non-perishables, Richard and the library staff placed collection boxes in the Stroud Academic Center lobby and at the Hayden Library’s rear entrance.  Whatever is collected will be delivered to Don Cox at the Cape Cod Military Support Foundation and distributed to local families beginning Friday, January 25, and on an ongoing basis until the shutdown is over.

If you are interested in helping out, please deliver your donations to Tabor Academy at either the Stroud Academic Center located on 232 Front Street or the Hayden Library at 71 Spring Street.  Questions may be directed to Ann Richard at 508-291-8564 or Lauren Boucher at 508-291-8375 or lboucher@taboracademy.org.

OC Boys Basketball Dominates Competition

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After starting the season 6-0 for the first in program history, Old Colony boys basketball suffered its first loss of the season. The Cougars got past that pretty quickly, now having won three straight, with their most recent win coming in a 92-50 win over Cape Cod Tech.

“We got off to the races,” Old Colony boys basketball coach Matt Trahan said. “The kids are playing some inspired defense.”

Zach Soucyhad himself a big night, dropping 22 on the Rams in the Cougars’ most recent effort. Hunter Soaresalso scored 14 points andTony Wrightpitched in 10. But it was Jake Jasonwho led the charge for Old Colony, scoring 32 points in the win.

Jason is now exactly 100 points away from eclipsing the 2,000 career points mark.

“He’s very unselfish,” Trahan said. “He gets a lot of points, but he does it within the offense.”

Old Colony girls basketball has not had as much as the boys, now sitting at 3-7 on the year. The Cougars have lost a few close contests, with the most recent one being a 38-36 loss at the hands of Cape Cod Tech.

Old Colony lost the lead with eight seconds left and had a shot at the lead, but was unable to capitalize.

“It was a good look,” Old Colony girls basketball coach Craig Lincoln said on the near game-winning shot. “It had the distance but just hit the back rim.”

Savanna Hallewas back to her old self, scoring 14 points in the loss. Hanna L’Heureuxscored 10 for the Cougars.

Ethan Harropcontinues to represent Old Colony well on the Apponequet/Bishop Connolly/Old Colony co-op boys hockey team. With the Lakers winning back-to-back games after a rough stretch of losses, they were looking for their first official winning streak of the season in the game against Diman on Monday. Harrop finished with five points, three goals and two assists, and the Lakers need every bit of his output in their 6-4 win over Diman. Zach Lovendalealso scored a goal and notched three assists. Freshman Ryan Legaultrounded out Old Colony’s contributions in the win, scoring his first varsity goal with help from his brother, Jacob.

Old Rochester

Old Rochester/Fairhaven boys hockey took a step in the right direction by tying Plymouth North 1-1 in Monday’s matchup, as they now sit at 2-7-2 on the season.

Rob Ramseyscored the Bulldogs’ lone goal, while Jake DeMoranvillewas dominant in goal again. DeMoranville did everything he could to give the Bulldogs a shot at winning, finishing with 44 saves in the tie.

Old Rochester girls basketball suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of Dighton-Rehoboth. Now 10-1 (5-1 South Coast Conference), the Bulldogs have a big week ahead of them with the hopes of bouncing back.

“We really showed our youth,” Old Rochester girls basketball coach Bob Hohne said regarding the loss. “D-R has a good team and it was a hostile environment on the road. Our younger kids are still learning what that’s like, and they learned the hard way.

“We had a costly defensive lapse,” continued Hohne. “We turned the ball over and we took too many quick shots. We should have run more time off the clock.”

Old Rochester Class of 1996 graduate Matt Ducharmecontinues to make waves as the UMass Dartmouth women’s basketball coach. The Rochester native won his 100th game as the head of the Corsairs program, becoming the second women’s basketball coach in school history to reach the mark.

Ducharme has coached his team to 14-3 record (7-1 Little East Conference) heading into their Wednesday road matchup with Southern Maine. The Corsairs will host Keene State on Saturday at 1:00 pm.

High School Sports Update

By Nick Friar

One Book, Tri-Town Explores Literature, Art, and History

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The Elizabeth Taber Library in Marion, the Mattapoisett Free Public Library, and the Joseph H. Plumb Memorial Library in Rochester announce an exciting new program: One Book, Tri-Town.  We will be reading The Muralist by B. A. Shapiro leading up to a visit by the author on Sunday, May 19at the Mattapoisett Free Public Library.  Copies of the novel in various formats will be available from each of the three libraries.

The Muralist is a novel about Alizee Benoit, a young painter working on murals for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) when she vanishes in 1940. No one knows what has happened to her, not her arts patron Eleanor Roosevelt, or her friends and fellow WPA artists Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Lee Krasner. Seventy years later, her great niece Danielle uncovers enigmatic paintings hidden behind works by those now famous artists.  Do they hold the answers about her missing aunt? The novel discusses the WPA artists project, the Depression and the New Deal, World War II, the Holocaust, as well as bringing us into the world of mural painting and the early history of three famous artists.

Starting in February 2019, the three libraries will be coordinating some exciting programs on some of the topics discussed in the book.  On Saturday, February 23at 2:00 pm at the Mattapoisett Free Public Library, there will be a book and movie discussion on John Steinbeck’s prize-winning epic of the Great Depression, The Grapes of Wrath.  Copies of the book will be available at the three libraries for pickup.  We will discuss Steinbeck’s novel, then watch the film. If you would like to take part in this program and to reserve a copy of Grapes of Wrath, call your local library to register, or go to the Events Calendar on the Plumb Library website, www.plumblibrary.com and register there. Other programs being scheduled: a 1930’s folk song sing-along on March 17; a showing of the film Pollack on March 20; a concert of music by WPA composers by pianist Leslie Amper in April, and more.  Children and older students will also be involved both in the libraries and in the schools.

This program is supported in part by grants from the Marion Cultural Council, Mattapoisett Cultural Council, and the Rochester Cultural Council,  local agencies which are supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.  Support is also being provided by the Friends of Plumb Library, and the Friends of the Mattapoisett Free Public Library. It is being planned by the committee consisting of Library Directors Susan Pizzolato of Mattapoisett, Elizabeth Sherry of Marion, and Gail Roberts of Rochester, and other community partners and volunteers.

No Bad Dogs

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            Barbara Woodhouse’s book No Bad Dogswas written in 1982 by the renowned author, a dog trainer, and authority on best practices for training dogs. Her books are still in print and clips from her popular British TV series are available for viewing on YouTube. I became a devotee of her dog training methods when I acquired two Labrador retrievers in the late 1980s. It was very important to me that I have dogs that were trained well and would obey my commands, as well as being loveable, generous family members. It was hard work, but I was young and strong and ready for the challenge. I am proud to say it paid off. I had two well-trained animals, one of which gave us years of companionship and whose passing we still cry over.

Training an animal takes time. Repetition, patience, and commitment is the name of the game. I also believe selecting the right dog for one’s own ability to give the animal a fair chance of obedience success is critical. If you are a little senior citizen as I am, you probably shouldn’t have a strong energy-packed pit bull dragging you down the sidewalk. Not all pit balls are bad. But all pit bulls are strong.

Over the years, we’ve all seen or heard of cases where for variety of reasons a dog attacks someone or another dog. I am reminded of Woodhouse’s mantra: “There are not bad dogs, only bad humans.” Dogs are animals and even the best-trained beasts can surprise us for unknown reasons and behave in “bad” ways. The cure is knowing your dog’s temperament as best you can, understanding your ability to control the dog with voice and leash restraints and, yes, accepting your physical limitations for handling the dog you’ve decided you want.

Suffice to say, my dog is small. Harry is a fluffy, oftentimes-skittish fifteen-pound mature neutered male Havanesse and also pretty darned cute. People, especially children, want to pat him, pick him up, or approach him as they wish. His reaction to the situation determines how I’ll allow the interaction to take place. If Harry isn’t interested, I’ll tell the adults as well as the children: “He is nervous around strangers,” and gently move away from the people. If Harry is channeling his inner werewolf, I’ll cross the street to avoid anything nearing an unpleasant experience for others, as well as Harry. I have spent considerable time understanding my responsibility to the public at large and to Harry, specifically when it comes to allowing his involvement with other dogs or people. That’s my job.

So, when my husband and I are out walking the lovely village streets of Mattapoisett (or anywhere else for that matter) as we have done for many years, we’ve got a pretty good handle on dogs and people who are approachable and those who are not. If there is any question in our minds, we stick to the side of caution. I mean, really, why take a chance? We’ve watched enough court TV to see what can be a very sad result when people are irresponsible with their dogs.

But I’ve also seen it up front and personal.

Decades ago my son was mauled by a large mixed breed dog while collecting his paper route money. He had knocked on the door of one of his customers and as the resident opened the door, out flew the dog, biting my son on his face and neck. I can only write this now because it was so long ago and the ending to the story is a fortunate one. My boy sustained four puncture wounds on his face and nearly lost an eye, but mercifully his neck had been protected by the thick hood of his winter snowsuit. It took me years to get over that event – years.

In that case, the only thing the dog owner did wrong was not anticipate his dog’s impulse to go after anyone at the door and its ability to do so in a split second. By the way, that dog owner came out only after the dog had pinned my son to the ground and was whipping his head back and forth with the snowsuit crammed in his jaws. The man used a baseball bat to subdue his dog.

A dog that vicious should have been restrained before the door was opened – period. The dog owner later told the police, “He’s never done that before!” It only takes one time for a tragic accident to mark someone’s life or face forever.

There was another incident several years ago when I was walking our dog Max, a twenty-pound Cairn terrier, when an unrestrained enormous German shepherd dashed from its yard on the east side of North Street to the west side and attacked Max. That owner ran over and grabbed their dog while expressing that familiar refrain, “He’s never done that before!”

Fast forward to last week when my husband and I were out walking Harry. The whole being-able-to-walk thing is a huge issue for me at the present time, having had surgery in November to repair a broken leg. Part of my therapy is walking. We were having such a good walk in the cold crisp air rising up from the harbor. We could feel the heat of the sun as it broke through the intermittent clouds and naked tree branches. I was at peace and feeling so good. Maybe everything would eventually be all right, I was thinking, even though I most likely need more surgery in the future. For now, though, everything was right in our world.

As we approached the corner of Church Street and Barstow heading north, we saw a woman struggling to restrain a large powerful dog. We tried to hurry across Church Street before this person turned south on Barstow directly toward us.

As the seconds passed, we got as far as two or three steps into the crosswalk painted on Church Street when the growling dog broke free and, pulling the leash from the woman’s hands, charged towards us.

The dog attacked us, knocking my husband to the ground where he hit his head on the pavement and was injured. The attacking dog kept running and charging at Harry who was screaming his head off and speeding away from the snapping jaws of his nemesis. Thankfully, Harry is fast and, just before any injury, the woman was able to gather the leash off the ground and drag with all her might that nasty beast away.

I was, in a word, hysterical. I remember bellowing, “What is wrong with you? You can’t control a dog like that! … What if it went after a child? What if it broke my hip?!” What if, what if, what if! But none of that happened, this time.

Another couple who witnessed the incident called the police and helped me collect myself and Harry while my husband went after the woman who was quickly moving away to get her contact information in the event we found our dog had been injured or that my husband’s injury was more than a hard bump on the head. That dog owner kept saying, “This has never happened before!”

We gave the police the story, as well as the dog officer. I told both that all I wanted, given that the injury was minor to my husband, was for that dog owner to be cautioned that when that dog is in the public realm it had to be wearing a muzzle. We are awaiting more details from officers. We hope for the best and that the public will be protected from this dog, for clearly that woman was clueless.

Dogs are animals. If Harry decides to attack another dog or a person, he could do some damage – but let’s face it, nothing compared to a larger, more powerful dog. There is another much more significant layer of responsibility a dog owner possesses when deciding that big Brutus is the dog for them. First and foremost, I say, is sign all dogs up for professional dog training classes; and, then, leave nothing to chance. It only takes a second for someone’s world to be shattered by a dog whose owner is lackadasical about the potential for injury.

I’m still shaking. It will be weeks before this incident will fade enough so that when I reflect upon it, I’m not brought instantly to that moment when I found myself whacking an attacking dog on its back with my walking stick and witnessing my beloved husband’s face grimace in pain as he struggled to his feet to protect me and Harry. It sickens me. And so I ask, who is responsible for that? Definitely not the dog.

This Mattapoisett Life

By Marilou Newell

Marion Considers March School Break Study

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The majority of school districts in the region continue the tradition of a school break week in February and April, but a discussion on January 9 showed Marion School Committee support for a study on the possibility of attempting a two-weeklong March break.

Sippican School Principal Lyn Rivet said the Sippican School Council discussed combining the February and April breaks into one, given this region’s propensity for multiple snow storms and blizzards late January through early March, resulting in multiple snow days and an interruption of full school weeks.

School Committee member Michelle Smith pointed out that having the two breaks is a strong tradition in this area and that unless other area school districts adopted the March break, certain areas such as the sports calendars, for example, would be affected.

“It would be different from everybody else, said Smith.

“The only way that’s going work – on a high school level – is if everybody else … is on a similar schedule,” said School Committee Chairman Christine Marcolini. “It’s an interesting concept, but I don’t think we would be able to do that in isolation.”

“I think parents would be in an uproar; the union would be in an uproar,” Smith said.

Superintendent Doug White suggested that the Tri-Town school districts would undertake a yearlong study first to review and allow a voice to be heard from all parties. White said he would gather available information from other school districts to ascertain “how it would look and feel in the Tri-Town and where the support would come for that.”

In other matters relative to the school calendar, the committee reviewed the proposed draft for the 2019-2020 school year, with White presenting a suggestion from the Rochester School Committee on rescheduling professional development days from later in the school year, instead holding them on January 3 and 4 to allow for two full weeks of winter break rather than having students return for only a short week on Thursday and Friday.

“It looks good on paper, unless you’re a working parent,” said Marcolini. “That’s really long. … It’s an interesting idea.”

Marcolini said, after returning back from this winter break to a shorter three-day week, “It was kind of nice to come back to a short week.” Still, Marcolini said it was a worthwhile idea that should be presented to the meeting of the joint school committees on March 7.

Also during the meeting, Marcolini said the Marion School Budget Subcommittee recently met and reviewed a draft 2020 fiscal year budget and would have one to present to the Marion School Committee at its next meeting.

The committee welcomed new Business Administrator Paul Kitchen to his first School Committee meeting since beginning the position on January 7.

The next meeting of the Marion School Committee is scheduled for February 13 at 6:30 pm at Sippican School.

Marion School Committee

By Jean Perry