One day as Bruce Rocha mowed his parcel of land located on Driscoll Lane, his mind wandered a bit from his labors. He’d been taking care of the family’s field for decades as far back as the mid-1960s. The Rochas farmed the land, growing vegetables in season and trees. For a time, animals roamed the farm pasture.
At its height of productivity and his youthful aspirations, Rocha sold his crops to the local A&P where the 7-Eleven now stands.
That was years and years ago; in more recent years he’s simply kept the plot neat and tidy. Yet as his thoughts meandered, Rocha came to “see” a shape forming. The blades of his mower seemed to be carving out something much more than clean rows of mown grasses.
“It appeared to be a heart shape,” he recalled.
Like an inspired artist, Rocha began the process of sculpting out a heart in the field. It took approximately three years to get the massive, 200-by-250-foot Valentine-shaped heart to resemble his vision, but today it can be clearly seen on Google mapping images.
To create the textured appearance and define the edges of the heart, Rocha employs different blade heights. An interior ring of some 200 Christmas trees helps to define the space. Those trees will be harvested and more planted, he said. His right-hand man and artistic partner, grandson Tyler Rocha (son of Bruce Rocha Jr. and Lyn Hollis) will handle that endeavor.
And speaking of trees, Rocha’s wife of more than 60 years, Bette-Jean, has been a member of the Mattapoisett Tree Committee in the past and noted, “I’m for the trees, that’s partly why we planted them there.”
The Rocha family are a bit of an adventuresome clan. Bruce and Bette-Jean have traveled the globe in pursuit of “geocaching” sites. He proudly shared that his Valentine heart is now one of those sites.
For the uninitiated, geocaching is a sport and a game in which participants search for sites of all sorts – think scavenger hunting. Upon finding the site that is listed on the geocaching website, names can be inscribed in a logbook and small mementos can be collected and/or new items left for the next adventurer to find. For those whose interest is now piqued, you will find the details at geocaching.com. There is a surprising number of locations right here in Mattapoisett.
The Rochas have visited an astounding 3,500 geocaching sites all over the world, but Tyler can boast his count is up to 5,000 locations. To add to the context of Tyler’s adventures, he is something of a local champion with five off-road titles with the New England Trail Riding Association and three with the Pilgrim Sands Trail Riders. To quote the old-fashioned saying, “Don’t let grass grow under your feet,” this next generation of the Rocha family seems to have taken that to heart. (Pun intended.)
Speaking with Rocha about his family’s adventures and creative landscaping efforts took us down several paths of inquiry. That’s because Rocha was born on Route 6 when the roadway still meandered along Main Street, Water Street, Beacon Street and Marion Road. He cannot talk about his hometown without conjuring up memories of bygone days, the people and the places. When he declares that creating the heart on family land felt right because it is more or less in the geographical center of the area he grew up in, Rocha is serious. “It felt right and is in the heart of the community,” he said.
Rocha’s own beating heart has always been in Mattapoisett. He said that during the war years his father’s work required that the family move to East Bridgewater, thus he did not attend local school. However, something much more significant occurred – he met and married Bette-Jean.
The Rochas would return to Mattapoisett, raise their family of two sons and a daughter and build successful businesses.
And that beautiful heart, created by inspired planning and nurtured to be a symbol of enduring love of place and family, is dedicated as one would imagine – to Bette-Jean.
By Marilou Newell