Following the January 14 Special Town Meeting, the Board of Selectmen held its regular meeting.
The agenda included a meeting with John DeCosta and Bruce Rocha regarding Mattapoisett’s Boston Cane.
The Boston Cane was the brainchild of the publisher of now-defunct The Boston Post newspaper, Edwin Grozier, who distributed 700 elegant canes throughout New England with the request that they be presented to the oldest living “male” in each community, compliments of the newspaper. Times have changed to include women as Boston Cane recipients. DeCosta and Rocha sought to have the town resume the tradition.
DeCosta said it had been around 2004 when the cane was last presented. He said that a benefactor had come forward with seed money to purchase plaques or pins that would be given to those receiving the Boston Cane recognition.
The cane is not intended to stay with the honoree but with the town for future recognition events.
But DeCosta and Rocha thought that something should be given to the recipient, something they could keep.
There was discussion about researching who had received the cane in Mattapoisett in the past and a display case in town hall.
The selectmen voted to grant permission for DeCosta and Rocha to continue on a path that will resurrect this age-old tradition.
In other business, Harbormaster Jamie McIntosh told the selectmen that he was ready to sell the 2005 Sea Hawk, 2012 Load-Rite trailer, and 1986 Boston Whaler. The selectmen approved the sale of what was deemed surplus equipment. McIntosh said that the Sea Hawk would fetch $26,600 including its trailer and that the previously donated Boston Whaler would be worth $4,000.
Also during the meeting, Town Administrator Michael Gagne said in his brief report that the search committee who has been charged with finding viable candidates as his replacement along with professional search firm Paradigm Associates had trimmed the field of 40 candidates down to seven.
The selectmen scheduled a January 23 meeting in Town Hall at 4:00 pm with the committee to learn the names of those in the running.
As of press time, the next meeting of the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen is scheduled for February 11 at 6:30 pm in the Town Hall conference room.
Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen
By Marilou Newell