The Wanderer congratulates Kevin J. Woodward for receiving one of its 19th Annual Keel Awards, which honor nominees from Rochester, Marion and Mattapoisett who have gone above and beyond with service to their community.

Woodward is the winner for the town of Rochester. Recently, Woodward, who grew up in Rochester and attended RMS and ORR, decided that RMS needed to do something about its lack of a proper area for students to get some sort of physical activity at recess. At the time, they were playing in a parking lot.

“RMS was undergoing renovation expansion,” Woodward said. He said that, initially, the budget for the renovation allowed for the construction of a playground, but that it eventually was removed from the budget.

“We tried to raise some money to build something that will service our kids at the schools,” he said.

Woodward said they did so by combining a traditional walk-a-thon with RMS’s field day, calling it the “Miles for Memorial Fitness Challenge.” The challenge involved students walking a 2-mile loop, as well as several other physical activities, with the idea of promoting fitness as well as to raise money for the new playground.

Students were asked to get sponsors on a per-mile or flat rate. The result was that the students helped to raise more than $25,000, which eventually led to the construction of the new playground, which breaks ground on August 10.

“I’m super fortunate to have had the backing of this kind of community,” he said. “We’re looking forward to August 10, and counting on some parents and volunteers to have something in place to welcome our kids back to school in the fall. It’s been a long time coming.”

Woodward added that some of the current students at RMS have been without a playground for at least four years, and that they’ve been involved in the whole process from its inception.

“This will be all new for them,” he said. “They were there for the whole experience.”

by Nick Walecka

Rodney Hunt likes to stay busy. For the past 10 years, Hunt has organized and been Master of Ceremonies for the Marion Memorial Day Parade and the July 4th Parade. Because of his “behind the scenes” work on behalf of the town of Marion, Rodney Hunt has been chosen to receive a Wanderer Keel Award for 2013.

This year’s July 4th Parade had more than 100 entries participating. Hunt, along with fellow members of the Benjamin D. Cushing VFW Post 2425 and the Ladies Auxiliary, helped organize the event and made it look easy.

“When you have the kind of help I have, it all works,” Hunt said. “I enjoy the parade planning. People are happy at the parade and really enjoy all the music, floats, clowns, antique tractors, horses and antique autos. It’s a happy time for everyone, and that makes all the work worthwhile.

“Demi Barros organized the parade for many years, and I took over around 10 years ago,” Hunt continued. Barros and Hunt are members of the Benjamin D. Cushing Post 2425 Veterans of Foreign Wars in Marion.

“My father in law, Antoine Monterio, asked me to join the VFW back in 1992,” Hunt said, “and that started the ball rolling.”

With 33 years of military service, Hunt retired in 2007 after serving three years of active duty in the United States Army, with two years in Vietnam in 1967 and 1968. After returning home, Hunt was in the Army Reserve for four years and then spent 26 years with the Massachusetts National Guard.

Hunt was born in Cambridge and is one of seven children. His mother is Wampanoag, and his father was African-American. He is also the father of seven children, six of them local and one in Texas.

“We go to the Pow Wow in Mashpee and the Cape Verde Festival. My mother is 94 years old and is the oldest Wampanoag Indian in the tribe. Her father was the Chief of the tribe,” Hunt explained. Hunt’s mother lives at home in Wareham, and he and his sister tend to her shopping and laundry and visit her regularly.

Hunt retired after 32 years from the New Bedford Employment Office.

“I did it all: job training, writing resumes, interview coaching, matching people and their skills with jobs … helping people,” he said. “I’m lucky in that I had a career that produced results in placing people in jobs they needed. I like to help people.”

This past April, Hunt celebrated 40 years of opening the New Bedford YMCA at 5:30 am, a part-time job he enjoys. “I open it up each day and also help with security,” Hunt said. In his spare time, he likes to spend time with his grandchildren and family.

Marion citizens attend and enjoy the two major parades held each year, and now they know the driving force behind them. Thank you, Rodney Hunt.

By Joan Hartnett-Barry

The Mattapoisett Free Public Library presented a unique opportunity to catch four popular authors at the height of their powers before last Thursday’s Teen Dance.

Scott Blagden (Dear Life, You Suck), Kimberly Marcus (Exposed), Joe Lawlor (bully.com), and Rebecca Maizel (Infinite Days) write for a 12- to 18-year-old audience and tackle subjects that tend to appeal to that age group.

Blagden’s novel – recently nominated for the Young Adult Library Services Association Best Fiction Award – features a Holden Caulfield-esque protagonist, and the Wareham resident said he enjoys running his workshops for young people through the Mattapoisett Library.

“I did write when I was a teen, but I gave it up, and I didn’t pick it back up until my 40s,” Blagden said. “I regret that, so talking to these kids about writing is something I’m passionate about.”

On Thursday night, Blagden could be seen mentoring fan and aspiring novelist Jacqueline Leduc, a 14-year-old Acushnet resident.

Marcus, who lives in Dartmouth, said she is drawn to both “silly rhyming books for children and angsty, edgy teen novels.” Exposed fits the latter description, but Marcus has published both.

Lawlor’s novel centers on cyber-bullying. The advertiser-turned-teacher-turned-author said he has seen bullying up close, and said that today’s brand is different from the more obvious bullying of the past.

“These days, it’s different. You don’t always know who the bully is. I wanted it to be topical, but I didn’t want to make it too heavy,” said Lawlor of his mystery. “When you have a school full of suspects, it’s a really nice way to begin a story.”

Maizel, meanwhile, said that there is a “stigma about supernatural fantasy, like, ‘Oh, another vampire book,’ but I think the idea of emergence and finding your identity really resonates with teenagers.” Infinite Days is the first book in Maizel’s Vampire Queen series, and the second, Stolen Nights, is also out now.

By Shawn Badgley