The Mattapoisett Lions Club proudly presents the second annual (Free!) Family Fun Festival on Saturday, October 21 from noon to 4:00 at Shipyard Park (rain date is October 22). Bring the family down for hayrides, pin the nose on the pumpkin, coloring station, corn hole toss, pumpkin patch, goody bags, apple cider, hot chocolate and more. All ages welcome.
The following Tri-Town residents have graduated from Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston. The university held its summer commencement on August 20, 2017:
– Noah Steven Beaulieu of Marion
– Andrew S. Hughes of Mattapoisett
– Jonathan A. Barroso of Rochester
ORRHS has an active student body involved in numerous extracurricular activities, including the growing amount of staff and student run clubs. One of the returning groups this year is the high school’s Community Service Learning club, led by science teacher Heidi Graser.
“Last Thursday, we had a meet and greet after school to try and get new members interested in the club,” Graser said. “The older members brought in refreshments, and we all made kindness rocks that will either be placed around the community or used to start our own little garden of kindness.”
The idea brought over a dozen students to the room for the club’s second official meeting of the year.
“Involvement was a little low last year, but it looks like participation will be increasing a lot,” said member Hanil Kang.
New club member Maggie Farrell said, “Recently, I’ve helped out at a bake sale at ORR to raise money and awareness for hurricane relief down in the Caribbean, and I heard about Community Service club through some of my friends who had done it in the past.” She continued, “I decided I wanted to join when they told me about all of the different events that the club is involved with to help out our local community.”
At the meeting, members of the Community Service Learning club were informed how to self-log their volunteer hours over a twelve-month span. Depending on the amount of time they spend giving back to the community, students could qualify for National Service Awards that acknowledge their service.
Possible community service occasions were passed around at the meeting as well. The assembled group watched a video from the “Message of Hope” organization in preparation for donating volunteer hours to their cause. Students signed up to help pack Message of Hope goodie bags for children in hospitals on one of the following club dates.
“I think giving back to the community is very important,” commented senior Fiona Lant, who has been part of the club since her sophomore year. “It’s great to be a part of a group of people who all share that idea and work together to promote it.”
By Jo Caynon
The Rochester Conservation Commission began the process of reviewing current fee structures and the implementation of new or additional fees during the October 3 meeting.
Conservation Agent Laurell Farinon provided fee structure data from surrounding cities and towns as a starting point for the commissioners, saying “Fees are all over the place.”
Farinon said that currently there is only a $25 fee to cover the cost of publishing public hearing notices in The Wanderer for Requests of Determination of Applicability.
Regarding Notices of Intent filings, depending on the type of construction being proposed and whether the project fell into the commercial or residential category, fees are anywhere from $100 to $500 with the state taking a portion of those fees collected.
Farinon suggested that the commission consider instituting a new “after-the -act” filing fee, possibly double the regular filing fee. She said that any suggested fee changes would have to go before the Board of Selectmen and the Finance Committee, but not Town Meeting.
Commissioner Laurene Gerrior asked, “What are we trying to do with fees?”
Farinon said the commission could be proactive with fees to cover operating costs incurred by the commission.
Gerrior thought that funds collected might be used to help manage and maintain Town-owned open spaces, while commissioner Daniel Gagne thoughts funds should be used in the management of wetlands, such as invasive species eradication.
The commission asked Farinon to prepare a spreadsheet of possible fee changes for their review and further consideration.
The commission also discussed the new part-time position of recording secretary that they had previous voted to move forward with and request funding for.
Farinon had been asked to provide supporting documentation regarding overtime and what work wasn’t getting done.
Farinon responded, “The position is treading water,” and, although work was getting done such as meeting minutes and agendas, the crush was very real and of a long-standing nature. Currently the same secretary is responsible for attending Conservation Commission and Planning Board meetings as the recording secretary.
A sum of $2,500 had been suggested by Farinon for the position, and this would come in front of voters at Town Meeting, she said. Rochester’s Fall Special Town Meeting is scheduled for October 23.
Earlier in the evening, Daniel and Deborah Clark of 240 Mary’s Pond Road came before the commission to defend their request for a Certificate of Compliance that had been originally requested during the September 19 meeting, but declined pending their appearance.
Chairman Michael Conway had asked the homeowners to come before the commission to explain why the plan of record had not been followed and why modification had not first been vetted with Farinon.
Mr. Clarke said, “We thought we were following the rules, but mistakes were made.” He continued, “The first mistake was not checking the plan of record.” He said, if he had he done that, the issue of a lack in sufficient coverage for a portion of the foundation would have been noted.
The second mistake, he said, was “I didn’t fully appreciate the Order of Conditions regarding the one hundred-foot buffer zone.” Clarke listed four changes to the plan: steps to a shop; placement of a generator; openings in a stone wall; and slight relocation of parking area. “I should have come to Laurell … I’m sorry.”
Conway asked if he had read the Order of Conditions. Clarke replied, “Not fully.”
Conway commented, “People take these permits too lightly.”
Mrs. Clarke asked, “We had no intention to do anything wrong … What can we do now?”
Conway turned to Farinon who said, “We’re here for a Certificate of Compliance. Changes were made, but the project turned out well… There’s no other way to travel on this … I recommend a Certificate of Compliance be issued.”
The commission approved the request.
The next meeting of the Rochester Conservation Commission is scheduled for October 17 at 7:00 pm in the town hall meeting room.
Rochester Conservation Commission
By Marilou Newell
Attorney John “Pat” Callaghan, 74, of Middleboro died peacefully October 7, 2017 on his 74th birthday, after courageously battling long-term health issues.
He was the husband of Alice G. (Markey) Callaghan.
Born and raised in New Bedford, the son of the late Joseph T. and Sheila M. (McKoan) Callaghan, he lived in Mattapoisett and Lakeville before moving to Middleboro 10 months ago.
Pat practiced law in New Bedford for 40 years, and served the city in a number of roles, most notably as City Solicitor and President of the City Council. In addition, “Coach Cal” was a girl’s basketball coach at Bishop Stang High School and for the Bristol Stars, where he had a tremendous impact on the lives of the young women he coached. He was passionate about gardening, the Red Sox, and most importantly, his family.
Pat is survived by his wife Alice; his daughter, Erin Cronin and her husband John of Raynham; 3 brothers, Joseph Callaghan, Jr. and his wife Cindy of Sanibel Island, FL, Edward Callaghan and his wife Frances of Flower Mound, TX and Peter Callaghan and his fiancée Kathy Duarte of New Bedford; 4 sisters, Sheila Couto of New Bedford, Elizabeth Barclay and her husband David of Fairhaven, M. Angela Kruger and her husband Louis of Acushnet and Cathleen King of Dartmouth; a sister-in-law, Diane Callaghan of Ramsey, NJ; 3 grandchildren, Kara, Elizabeth and Declan; and many nieces and nephews.
He was the father of the late Kara Callaghan, the brother of the late Michael Callaghan and the brother-in-law of the late Edward Couto and Suzanne Callaghan.
His Funeral will be held on Thursday, October 12th at 9 am from the Saunders-Dwyer Home for Funerals, 495 Park St., New Bedford, followed by his Funeral Mass at Holy Name of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church at 10 am. Burial will follow in Pine Grove Cemetery. Visiting hours will be on Wednesday, October 11th from 4-8 pm. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to Women & Infants Neonatal Unit 101 Dudley St. Providence, RI 02905 in memory of their late daughter Kara Callaghan or to Hasbro Children’s Hospital, 593 Eddy St., Providence, RI 02903 in memory of Dominic Longo.
Join Patty Batson as she leads this two-part basket weaving class on Tuesday, October 10 and Tuesday, October 17 from 9:00 to 11:00 am at the Benjamin D. Cushing Community Center, 465 Mill Street, Marion. We will be working on a wine basket; $25 includes both classes and supplies. Beginners are welcome! Pre-registration is required; call 508-748-3570 to reserve your spot.
The ORYF (Old Rochester Youth Football) Cheerleaders are having a Car Wash Fundraiser and Bake Sale. Come meet them at the Mattapoisett Fire Station on October 14 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. Car washes are only $5 and the cheers are free.
Tabor Academy will welcome 27 students from Rysensteen Gymnasium in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Sunday, October 1 for a four-day in-depth visit.
According to Kerry Saltonstall, Director of Communications, Tabor is a new member of Rysensteen’s network of international schools participating in their Global Citizenship Program. Tabor is the new math/science hub for Rysensteen, where the Danish students studying these subjects will come for an international perspective.
The Danish students are eager to sample Tabor’s extensive advanced curriculum in math, science, and engineering, subjects the students are concentrating in at home. Typically, the Danish students conduct their senior year visit at a public school within their international network of eleven schools across the globe, a feature of Rysensteen’s global citizenship program. At Tabor, the students are looking forward to experiencing what an American school is like, but even more what an independent boarding high school has to offer, from excellence in teaching to broad electives and extensive after school activities, as well as the chance to enjoy an evening meal with classmates with opportunities for after-dinner discussions.
Rick DaSilva, Associate Director of the Center for International Students at Tabor, is the organizer of the exchange and has set up individualized schedules to take best advantage of the visiting students’ interests. “I am eager to see how our students and the Rysensteen students will interact socially and through the academic projects we have planned after enjoying some contact over social media during the summer. Our hope is that our students will take equal advantage of our visitors’ experience and perspective and make it as worthwhile an experience as possible,” said DaSilva.
A feature of Rysensteen Gymnasium is very active student ownership of the culture of their school. As this is also a strength at Tabor, Mr. DaSilva has arranged a cultural conversation on Tuesday evening during the exchange to allow Tabor and Rysensteen students to discuss the opportunities and challenges of true student engagement in helping to set cultural and behavioral norms at school.
In March, 27 Tabor students will have the opportunity to visit Copenhagen to see Rysensteen Gymnasium in action and reconnect with their newfound Danish friends. Future exchanges for Tabor students are envisioned in coming years at the other schools within the Rysensteen Global Citizenship Network in countries such as Argentina, Canada, China, Egypt, Iceland, India, Russia, Singapore, Spain and Turkey. Here’s to cross cultural education!
Sunday morning was the kind of morning that makes you feel better about summer’s end and reminds you of just how beautiful autumn is. The air is so fresh and every conscious inhale is a delight; your lungs snap into each breath like teeth biting into a cool, crisp apple. The light is changing, the sun’s slanted rays cascade clean and bright bringing a figurative life to all the browning flowers and fields, and the smell of organic decomposition mixes with fiery color.
I’m thinking all this from the passenger seat of a pick-up truck driven slowly down an unpaved road and through a cranberry bog in West Wareham by a beekeeper named Linda who was kind enough to take the time to show me the Tao of keeping bees. Linda was in Marion on Saturday giving a talk on bees, and I was there at her house on Sunday in pursuit of a cover photo for this week’s edition.
We are wearing matching white bee suits to protect us from an unlikely swarm of agitated bees, and I have a mesh for my head if I found myself tensing up in trepidation, although to avoid that effect I had my zoom lens already attached to the camera.
Just walk with purpose and confidence, Linda advises me, as she leads me behind the stacked wooden hive boxes. That advice would run on a continuous loop in my mind for the next half hour.
A steady stream of smoke billows from her shiny metal tin full of smoldering twigs already acting as a calming elixir to the bees flying around us.
With winter approaching, Linda explains how she has to bolster the colonies by supplementing their food supply with a natural sugar water to keep honey production going and to strengthen the bees for the cold months when their natural food supply dwindles before disappearing altogether. It’s an intervention of sorts, essential for the survival of Linda’s bees. She says the bees are already slightly agitated by the drop in pollen and nectar production as cranberry blossom season is over and flowers are dying off.
So attentive is Linda as she gingerly lifts the lids and slides out the frames of honeycomb just heaving with bees to inspect the bees’ progress since she last checked them yesterday. As I stand here taking in the scene, spellbound by the mystery of it all and energized by the adrenaline, I think about my boy … and how he would absolutely hate this.
As a child on the autism spectrum, his sensory dysfunction disorder and hypersensitivity to sound means he’s got sonic ears. The stingers on the bees aren’t the main reason the insect provokes his extreme phobia; it’s also the buzzing that (over)stimulates a strong sensory response, causing a physical pandemonium to spread from head to toe and a flight response that is so strong he would likely jump off a cliff or back into traffic to avoid it.
As Linda speaks about bees, how they ‘group think’ and respond as a holistic entity to stimuli, she explains the different aspects of caring for a beehive – controlling parasites, keeping the entrance blocks clean, and finally harvesting the honey – and I feel enthralled and inspired. As honeybee populations struggle for survival in the millennium, so do the keepers of bees as they scurry to strengthen the colonies, these priceless pollinators of crops like Linda’s cranberries.
I watch Linda practice her ‘beecraft.’ She talks about the bees, unaware, as if they are her children almost. She knows when they are getting agitated and what to do in response. She soothes them with gentle puffs of smoke and talks about how, when in a docile mood, you can almost pet the fuzzy back of a bee.
She says as a beekeeper she is guaranteed to be stung on a somewhat regular basis. Naturally, I start to see the figurative similarities of motherhood.
Every day now she mixes her sugary formula for the bees so that the next generation of baby “winter bees” can grow strong enough to endure the winter.
She pours the golden liquid into the first clear glass canning jar, flips it over, and carefully affixes it to the outside of the front entrance to the hive. As I watch, another thought is superimposed in my mind. I see my own hands pouring a mixture of liquid nutrition into a bag, securing the cover, and hooking it onto an IV pole.
And sometimes Linda puts the sugar water into a large plastic zipper bag, carefully places it inside the hive, and cuts a slit so the bees can crawl inside. A vision of me taking my plastic enteral feeding bag of supplemental formula and, grabbing onto the tube and threading it through an automated pump, in my mind I attach it directly to my son’s g-tube.
I’m always amazed by the manifestations of parallel symbolism in life … like the Universe is keeping it real and reminding you of the things that matter most at the time.
At home, much like in the hive, keeping the boy’s weight up and his nutrition adequate has been a struggle wavering on war. With such a limited food intake due to sensory aversions and preferences for certain textures and tastes, we can barely keep a calorie in him long enough to store any fat because all the boy wants to do is ride his bike and his scooter. And as we are now in the throes of adolescence, the virtual winter of his childhood, this is my chance to bolster the boy up as much as possible to send him strong into adulthood.
I’ve met with his school, the food service director, the lunch ladies – all in an effort to try to get more substance into the boy during school hours. I’ve had open discussions with people close to the family, asking them what they see and where they would make changes in the routine to benefit the boy. I have books and Internet articles and finally the support from another person living in the house whose dedication to the boy matches my own.
With all of this in place, you’d think the ‘boy hive’ would be teeming with metaphorical honey – but it’s not. And, just as if Linda were to stop being so attentive and devoted to the bees the buck would stop with her, it would stop with me.
Someone told me she thought the boy needed me home more, especially at night, and that perhaps I should find a regular 9-to-5 job. Another suggested I just needed to manage my time more effectively. And I say maybe it’s a bit of both that is needed to avert the painful sting of failure and the reward of a hive drenched in honey – the reward of the beekeeper.
I feel at this point in the season I have to take off my protective bee suit and tend to my hive “with purpose and confidence” as Linda suggested, and trust that there will be honey enough to keep us all going forward into the next season of life, whatever that will be.
I thanked Linda for the thrill of the introduction to her bees, the hives, and for the great cover photo. She gave me an information booklet and a special plastic cup for the boy to catch a bee with and study it beneath the magnifying lid, thinking perhaps it may help him overcome part of his fear. I didn’t mention how she had somehow helped me reckon with my own fear – the sting of failure in my boykeeping and the collapse of the proverbial colony. Instead, I told her how inspired I felt after observing her beekeeper’s ritual.
Linda and I plan to reconvene after the winter to discuss the progress of the bees. And hopefully, by then, the literal honey of the beekeeper and the figurative honey of the boykeeper will be flowing, and marching into spring with “purpose and confidence,” we’ll avoid another sting. Our colonies will thrive.
By Jean Perry
When Mattapoisett Tree Warden Roland Cote recently passed a construction site on North Street, he was surprised to find all the trees and a historic stone wall removed. On October 2, Cote went before the members of the Mattapoisett Planning Board to describe the clear cutting, accompanied by Tree Committee Chairman Sandy Hering and Highway Superintendent Barry Denham.
Coming forward on behalf of the contractor performing the work at 167 North Street was Lee Castagnetti of Long Built Homes. Castagnetti began first by saying, “I’m here with deep apologies. We were not aware it was a scenic highway or that we’d violated any regulations. My apologies can’t reverse that, but we are here to provide a remedy.”
The degree of damage was then brought to light as Cote said at least nine mature pine trees and two ash trees along with a stone wall he described as having been in place since “King George’s time” had been removed.
Acting Planning Board Chairman Nathan Ketchell asked Castagnetti how many homes Long Built had constructed in Mattapoisett. Castagnetti was unsure.
Cote said, “I was surprised what happened to the trees. I brought Mike Gagne (town administrator) to look. He knows someone at Long Built.” He said the Town was looking at having the trees replaced along with the stone wall.
Denham presented a driveway plan that the Highway Department had approved showing the stone wall and trees were to have remained in place. He also explained that a drainage swale critical to proper stormwater management on the roadway had been disrupted. “It looks strange when you drive down the street now with the stone walls and trees all gone,” he said.
Hering said the Tree Committee was ready to work with Cote and Long Built to develop a planting plan to “naturalize the site.”
Cote said that first the swale and stone wall would have to be repaired, and then the trees planted.
Planning Board member Janice Robbins asked, “Who’s the responsible party?”
Castagnetti responded, “It was our action. We accept responsibility for the misdeed. We should have understood what was to have been done.”
Robbins asked, “What about the property owners?” It was ascertained that the property owners had not been contacted regarding the matter, but Planning Board Administrator Mary Crain said she would contact them.
Ketchell suggested that Castagnetti look at historic pictures of the area to determine how the stone wall should be placed along the property line and North Street, and asked him to return on October 16 with a plan for the stone wall and swale and to move forward working with Cote and Hering on tree planting.
Earlier in the evening, the board re-opened a continued hearing for a single lot subdivision off Randall Road owned by Gingras Nominee Trust.
The board spent two hours discussing waivers requested by Al Ewing of Ewing Engineering that would have approved the construction of a 16-foot wide gravel roadway with a hammerhead turn-around for the single-family home planned for the lot.
But forward movement slowed to a snail’s pace as the board members labored over regulations governing lot subdivision, the proposed waivers, and future development that might take place beyond the scope of the current application.
Robbins was insistent that the proposed road necessary to give the lot frontage was adequate, especially when considering any future additional development that might take place on the large parcel. “Why should we be approving a driveway as a road?” She said there were no guarantees that 40B housing would not be planned in the future that would ultimately render the proposed roadway insufficient.
Board member Gail Carlson voiced her concerns as well, saying, “I’m looking at the slope of the gravel road and the width.”
Ewing said the approved zoning and permitting had been for a single lot, single-family home, and that included water and sewer permits.
Robbins countered, “But that’s not cast in stone. The road could be extended to create frontage.” She said, “We’re signing off on a sub-standard road … It’s a driveway.”
As the hearing continued, the board members debated the merits of four pages of waiver requests, returning repeatedly to the topic of the lack of a stormwater drainage plan.
Crain shared a letter she had received from Fire Chief Andrew Murray commenting that the roadway with hammerhead turn-around was acceptable as proposed. But Robbins said she needed clarification regarding clearing around the hammerhead and the need to ensure that area could support heavy emergency vehicles.
Regarding other requested waivers, the board members allowed underground utilities to be placed in the middle of the roadway, while waiving parking, sidewalks, easements, and open space requirements.
Ewing was asked to return with drainage calculations for stormwater management, and plan modifications that included swales and clarification on clearance for the hammerhead.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Planning Board is scheduled for October 16 at 7:00 pm in the Mattapoisett Town Hall conference room.
Mattapoisett Planning Board
By Marilou Newell