In a perfect union among like-minded organizations – those being the Mattapoisett Public Library, South Coast Bike Way, Mattapoisett Land Trust and the Seventh Annual Massachusetts Walking Tour – the June 23 evening air in Mattapoisett Village was filled with harmony.
On this splendid summer’s evening about 50 people, young and old alike, gathered on the grounds of the Mattapoisett Congregational Church to enjoy the musical talents of local and visiting musicians.
Sponsored by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and GoFundMe campaigns, the troupe simply known as the Massachusetts Walking Tour visits towns along pedestrian and bike trails during the summer season. Front man Mark Mandeville said, “We’ll do eighteen concerts in eighteen days visiting towns along the routes.”
Since the inception of the musical happening in 2010, Mandeville along with members Mark Kilianski, Amy Alvey, Raianne Richards and Kristen Sykes have played in 80 towns. “Our goal is to play at towns along trails throughout the state, visiting each once,” he said. And in keeping with the traveling troubadour mode of transportation, it is a bipedal effort – they walk from town to town camping overnight carrying about fifty pounds of supplies and, of course, their instruments.
Most of the group members are music teachers in central Massachusetts cities and towns during the winter months. Joined by local musicians at each town they visit, most of their promotional activity centers around media releases and networking with libraries and organizers of biking and walking trails in the commonwealth.
Well-known local advocate of pedestrian and bicycling pathways, Bonne DeSousa said, “When Susan Pizzolato (Mattapoisett Public Library Director) asked me if my group wanted to get involved, I said “Yes!’” Beaming with joy she continued, “This is all about bringing people together across communities keeping interest alive in biking and walking.”
Local musicians Mary Beth Soares and Joan Akin sang, while the amazing Mighty Uketones, a group of ukulele players each of whom has been playing for less than a year, performed with gusto. There was also Isabella Bernardi of Mattapoisett playing her banjo. She said that she hadn’t played in the high school band because, “Well, they don’t have a banjo section.” Bernardi is a 2016 graduate of ORRHS headed to UMass Dartmouth in the fall to major in civil engineering – a natural transition from banjo playing not unlike Steve Martin.
Mandeville said that next year the traveling troupe will be moving along trails from Walden to Wachusett Mountain. They’ll finish out this season’s travels that started in Truro via Fairhaven, Dartmouth, New Bedford, Fall River and Swansea.
For more information on the Massachusetts Walking Tour, visit www.masswalkingtour.org.
By Marilou Newell
