Attention Pre-Schoolers and Homeschoolers, the Marion Natural History Museum is now open to the public on Friday mornings. The museum features collections of minerals, fossils, butterflies, birds of prey and many other specimens. Appointments may be made for field trips. If you would like to schedule a time to come in and view these specimens as part of a lesson or just for fun, please contact the director for an appointment. We are open Wednesdays 10 – 4 pm and Fridays 10 – 4 pm.
Ideas for these articles come from many sources, but as I’ve mentioned before, scrapbooks in the museum collection are full of interesting stories. Over the 50-odd years of the Rochester Historical Society, various members have assembled scrapbooks full of pictures, mementos and pertinent news articles. While leafing through one of these books, I came across the picture of Captain Amos Haskins, a Native American whaler out of New Bedford, born in Rochester and with ties to the Aquinnahs of Gay Head, Martha’s Vineyard.
While crews on the whaling ships departing from and returning to New Bedford were diverse; local farm boys, sons of merchants, escaped slaves, Native Americans and islanders from stops made during voyages, the same was seldom true of the men who rose to captain whale ships. They were primarily white men, many of whom could afford to live in large homes in the neighborhoods of New Bedford.
While a lot is not known about Amos Haskins, we do know he was born in Rochester on September 9, 1816. He was employed in the whaling trade, first as a sailor and then as a 1st or 2nd mate on several ships, including the “Annawon”, the “Willis” and the “Triton”. At age 35, he became a rare Native American captain of the “Massasoit.” He was in charge of a crew of 22 with 12 of the crew being persons of color.
As a captain, Haskins was successful enough to afford a home at 163 William St. where he lived with his wife, Elizabeth P. Farmer, whom he married in 1844. Haskins was lost at sea in 1861. His last known descendant was a daughter, Caroline W. who married a Thompson Hill and died in 1918.
In New Bedford’s Rural Cemetery, there is a stone inscribed:
Captain Amos Haskins
Born Rochester Sept. 9, 1816
Lost at Sea November, 1861
By Connie Eshbach
Just for today … I will not judge or criticize or blame others or myself.
Instead I will compliment and encourage,
both others and myself.
Just for today … I will remember to give thanks,
for the gift of family and friends.
Just for today … I will send a little note,
to someone I care about,
to show them I am thinking of them.
Just for today … I will give to everyone,
a kind word, a silent prayer,
and wish them joy, happiness and laughter.
Just for today … I will take time to appreciate,
all the blessed miracles that God has granted,
to really see the flowers, the green grass,
and the fresh new green leaves, the sunshine.
Just for today … I will remember,
That God walks beside me every step of the way,
and guides me,
and that God loves and cherishes each and every one of us,
each and every day.
Just for today … I will strive to do my best,
I will be patient, kind, helpful and forgiving,
each and every day,
for tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.
Editor’s Note: Hope Bradley Finley passed away on January 13 at age 95. The Mattapoisett resident was thrilled to have The Wanderer publish her poems and essays, something we will continue to do this winter.
The Poet’s Corner
By Hope Bradley Finley
The musical Mockingbird is well known as a backyard bird with a vast vocabulary of songs and a variety of other sounds up to 200 in number to orally select from.
Each sound at the drop of a hat is usually repeated as many as six times during the day and even more during the night of mating season. Bird-watching experts believe that as the male expands the number of possibilities to choose from, he becomes a more attractive suitor to females looking for a mate.
What the experts don’t often know is that a Mockingbird’s imitations also include a large number of human-made sounds such as loud, human laughter, the ringing of a door bell or the sound of an alarm clock. Other mechanical sounds include a train whistle or the siren from a fire house. And in my illustration, it can often be the sound of a church tower with a catchy religious hymnal, “The Bells of St. Mary’s.”
How can the bird possibly imitate every one of these different combinations that come through so realistically? The sounds that most animals make are way down in their throats near their lungs to produce a thick, throaty volume, but birds blow a vocal pitch though their windpipes, sounding more like the horn of a trumpet. Then their voices are funneled into the ear like the horn of a trumpet passing into the ear with a loud and clear tone that is easily identified.
A hundred years ago, people were allowed to trap and cage Mockingbirds to show off their entertaining vocal performance. They were taken out of nests at a young age and sold into influential homes in Philadelphia, St. Louis and New York. In 1928, they would fetch as much as $50. However, now you can attract them to perform in your bird-watching backyards by keeping the lawns open and edges planted with fruit trees, mulberry and black berries.
Now with the arrival of global warming and climate change, the Mockingbird’s total habitat has expanded into more northern, adjoining states, thus increasing the chances that you and your children will have something to tell about in school, just as you have learned as a reader of The Wanderer.
By George B. Emmons
The Public Safety Facility Feasibility Study Committee on February 14 agreed with consultant Ted Galante’s new focus for examining whether to combine, replace or rehab the town’s police and fire stations.
At the conclusion of Gallante’s presentation on study options Tuesday afternoon, he and the board agreed his firm will focus on a plan to renovate and expand the 26 Dexter Lane police station, build a new fire station headquarters at 65 Pine Street and further down the timeline, build a fire sub-station at 0 High St., where a quicker emergency response will be needed when a proposed senior housing development is built at Route 58 and 28.
With both ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ construction and associated costs included, the two-site plan will cost roughly $32 million, Gallante said. The sub-station plan will bump that cost up to $35 million.
Gallante clarified that his current estimates don’t yet include what kind of ‘programming’ planners will decide will go in these new interiors.
He began the meeting by detailing all the options for what he called a Master Plan for improving the town’s public safety facilities. At 26 Dexter Lane, the town could expand and modify the existing police station, which right now suffers from lack of adequate space. The small sally port and conference room would be taken down and replaced with a new, larger sally port and a two-story extension. At 65 Pine St., the town would build a Fire Department headquarters or a combined police/fire facility.
Before the board agreed to these two plans, another option, Gallante said, is building a new fire or police station at 0 Mendell Road, though this parcel is not town-owned and includes wetlands.
The advantage to 0 High St. is that it is town-owned, town administrator Glenn Cannon said. Fire chief Scott Weigel said the sub-station proposal for that location should be part of a five-year plan because the senior housing project is only in its developmental stage.
Board member and selectman Brad Morse suggested the panel vote on which option it prefers. But other members said that will be rushing matters.
Board member David Arancio said that as town moderator he knows the public will need a ton of information to make a wise decision on this project at town meeting. He said the target should not be to schedule a vote on this for the May’s annual town meeting.
The board agreed, leading Gallante to happily conclude his firm will be able to just focus on the conceptual plans and budget figures for these options and return with them at the next meeting. That meeting was scheduled for March 14 at 2:30 pm in the meeting room of the Town Office Building, 1 Constitution Way, Rochester.
The February 14 meeting also featured committee members noting that the Rochester Country Fair, which took place annually at 65 Pine Street, has been discontinued; the fair committee has disbanded.
Rochester Public Safety Facility Feasibility Study Committee
By Michael J. DeCicco
All Things Art returns for the 2022 summer camp season. Program director Kate Frazer Rego will lead three sessions of this immersive weeklong program, which takes place in late summer and is geared toward young artists ages 10-13. During their time in the MAC Art Studio, young artists will experiment with a number of practices, techniques and media including drawing, sculpting, printmaking, fiber arts, working with clay and more. Learn how to talk about art making and what inspires one’s creative choices. Some class time will be spent outdoors, weather permitting. Three one week sessions are available, and the program runs Monday through Friday from 9:00 am-12:30 pm each day: Session 1: Monday, July 31-Friday, August 4; Session 2: Monday, August 7-Friday, August 11; Session 3: Monday, August 14-Friday, August 18. Cost for MAC Members is $250 plus $55 materials fee per student, and the cost for nonmembers is $290 plus $55 materials fee per student. Payment plans are available upon request. Space is limited. Register online at marionartcenter.org/all-things-art.
Marion stakeholders are determined to build the town’s new Department of Public Works operations center on the $4,500,000 budget approved by voters last year at Town Meeting, and they intend to do it by internally handling as many tasks as legal and possible and bypassing a general contractor.
Some tasks, lead architect Will Saltonstall told the Marion DPW Building Committee during Monday’s meeting at the Town House, can fall into the “self-perform” category, “rather than bundling this whole package and sending it out to GAC.”
After budget numbers came back from project estimators, Ken Motta of Field Engineering produced a site plan to further examine costs at Benson Brook.
Saltonstall suggested that the salt-shed assembly can fall into the self-perform category, along with other parts of the infrastructure, including the sewer line that will run from the facility to its connection to town sewer. That can be taken care of ahead of facility construction.
“Everything on the project-cost side of things,” said Saltonstall, will go out to general bid, but “there are quiet costs that you don’t have to add in there. … We can still get to our budget. … Think Rochester facility.”
Still on the table are three distinct construction strategies: 1. a preengineered metal frame on a concrete foundation, such as the Rochester DPW facility; 2. a stick frame wood with wood truss roof on a concrete foundation, such as the Sandwich DPW (believed to cost $145,000 more); and 3. a preengineered wood frame pole barn on concrete tubes, such as a Morton brand construction.
As of November 2021, total project cost for the new Marion DPW was estimated at $4,399,024. It has since jumped to $7,938,140 primarily due to change from a two-building design (operations center and vehicle maintenance/storage) to all in one. The salt shed remains a separate construction.
While the consolidation into one building is meant to eliminate redundancies in construction and infrastructure, the redesign also resulted in a plan to close the sides of what was going to be a preengineered metal vehicle-storage building, doubling the size of that structure and resulting in a $2,046,933 increase.
The cost of a general contractor has doubled since November 2021 from $462,627 to $934,947.04.
A do-it-yourself approach cannot be applied to operations/vehicle-storage construction and salt-shed assembly, but it can reduce sitework from $1,207,985 (January 2023) to $400,000 (less than the November 2021 budget figure of $684,818) and it can reduce the cost of a general contractor to $509,053.95.
Saltonstall’s six-part “potential construction strategy” will lean heavily on cooperation from various subcontractors and good fortune with supply chains.
Randy Parker, the Select Board’s representative to the committee, told the members he will approach Upper Cape Tech about the school’s interest in using the project for student experience.
Saltonstall recently met with a Morton representative, noting that the company known for its preengineered buildings is outside of the committee’s cost estimator.
Parker said that Morton “does a lot of things on their own” and likes their insulation product. “All the Morton buildings today are capable of taking solar … earlier in this conversation they were not.” Parker also noted that Morton guarantees its paint for 25 years.
Construction still must go through a public bidding process, noted Saltonstall.
After much in the way of careful discussion regarding the many moving parts in a partly do-it-yourself strategy, the committee discussed next steps.
Saltonstall told the committee he will meet offline with the DPW crew and specifically with Ken Motta of Field Engineering to draw from his expertise on site costs and gain a better understanding of critical time factors and the schedule. He will also seek feedback from Morton buildings on construction costs and engineering.
Morton offers buildings in standard sizes that can save the town money by tweaking its design dimensions to Morton’s existing standards.
Saltonstall anticipates another public meeting within a few weeks, but the committee needs more information before setting a date.
Marion DPW Building Committee
By Mick Colageo
The following students have achieved honors for the second term at Old Rochester Regional High School:
Highest Honors, Grade 9; Gavin Coffey, Hannah Thorell, Amanda Tomasso, Sasha Volkema, Grade10; Clara Bonney, Nolan Bushnell, David Fredette, Dillon Furtado, Caitlin O’Donnell, Zoe Pateakos, Scarlet Patnaude, Emily Wyman, Grade 11; Jacob Hadley, Corinne Hibbert, Grade 12; Sylvie Benson, Makenzi DeMello, Paige Fuller, Eliza Guard, Sofia Irish, Landon Maxwell, Aidan O’Donnell, Sarah Wyman.
Honors, Grade 9; Caroline Achilles, Chloe Bairos, Henry Berry, Ella Bishop, Cadel Bosma, Aiden Cabral, Russell Chace, Quinn Chisholm, Rosemary Clark, Charlotte Cook, Tucker Cook, Raegan Correia, Makenzie Crowley, Grace Custadio, Matthew DaRosa, Isabella Feeney, Alexandra Fiano, Giada Gandolfi, Brandon Gates, Connor Gauthier, Clara Gouveia-Silva, Ian Hartwig, Madalyn Haverty, Brody Hiles, Caroline Houdelette, Christopher Huffman, Jacob Iappini, Riley Karo, Elizabeth Kilpatrick, Hadley King, Olivia Kinney, Charlotte Laliberte, Caitlyn Lund, Neva Matos, Tiera McCarthy, Iain McManus, Carly Mello, Zachary Mendes, Alivia Miranda, Caillaigh Mullen, Emily Pacheco, Jiya Patel, Quinn Perry, Nina Pierre, Tyler Porto, Delilah Post, Leah Ptaszenski, Noah Robert-Howley, Sebastian Romig, Grace Rousseau, Noah Santos, Austin Scully, Molly Souza, Katherine Thomsen, Noah Thorell, Alexandra Tobin, Linden White, Molly Wronski, Katherine Young, Grade 10; Ella Bartholomew, Caroline Brogioli, Erin Cardinal, Delaney Chase, Kelsi Chick, Braeden Christopher, Madison Conner, Sarah Curry, Gianna DeLeo, Jake Dellas, Luke DeVoe, Karen Dondyk, Elijah Dorval, Isabella Doyle, Jeannine Duchaine, Hailee Ducharme, Eden Dupre, Aidan Eagle, Hannah Eaton, Jack Gallagher, Connor Galligan, Zachary Gates, Emerson Gonet, Chloe Guttenberger, Logan Hart-Bonville, Mallory Henesey, Elizabeth Houdelette, Jack Langlais, Peter le Gassick, Cormac LeClair, Aubrie Letourneau, Aiden Levasseur, Jenna Lynch, Logan Maher, Katherine McIlmail, Madison Mello, Zack Mourao, Heer Patel, Jayden Pedro, Jocelyn Pires, Alexander Pither, Audrey Pither, Brady Reardon, Alaina Redsicker, Matthew Rock, Sienna Roveda, Christina Shultz, Wilson Skomal, Alexa St. Louis, Scarlett Sylvia, Aubrey Sylvia-Everett, Avery Tavares, Ezra Thompson, Amelia Trout, Cassandra Tseki, Cameron Van Ness, Tessa Winslow, Grade 11; Emily Abbott, Noah Arsenault, Lila Bangs, Chloe Bean, Chase Besancon, Hunter Bishop, Sofia Bouley, John Bowman, John Butler, Ella Caesar, Murray Callahan, Eloise Casi, Theodore Cecil, Tyler Chick, Henry Cooney, Sara Costa, Rylie Coughlin, Julia Crain, Eliza Curtis, Alia Cusolito, Dandara De Oliveira, Amalia Dupre, Dylan Durgin, Amber Engel, Ethan Furtado, Reilly Garber, Cole Goldie, Elizabeth Harrington, Eva Hartley, Aurora Hayden, Aubrey Heise, Macy Ingham, Theo Jacobsen, Lily Johnson, Matthew Kennefick, Sara Kroll, Logan Leblanc, Keelin Lienkamp, Ty MacKenzie, Marina Martins, Aleeya McCarthy, Megan McFadyen, Ava McLeod, Noah Mendes, Owen Modracek, Nashajia Monteiro, Jonathan Nguyen, Liam O’Connell, Brenna O’Donnell, Anna Pereira, Emilia Perriera, Logan Perry, Darin Procopio, George Psichopaidas, Kelly Quinlan, Shay-ann Robertson, Marcus Robichaud, Kamryn Rodrigues, Gabriella Romig, Allison Root, Mariana Sudofsky, Jason Tobin, Angela Tomasso, Arielle Troupe, Jackson Veugen, Tyler Williams, Remy Wilson, Allison Winters, Jenna Woodward, Tyler Young, Grade 12; Rudy Arsenault, Maura Bailey, Samuel Balsis, Ava Barrows, Gage Beauchemin, Gabriella Berg, Ryan Blanchette, Torsten Brickley, Elizabeth Bumpus, Reese Burger, Theodore Carroll, Emily Cavanaugh-Fauteux, Caitlin Collier, Murray Copps, Melessa Correia Silva, David Costa, Brady Dias, Kathleen Dunn, Josephine Eleniefsky, Failenn Fitzpatrick, Julia Foye, Lila Galavotti, Liam Geraghty, Leo Grondin, Mason Hanks, Alexander Harrigan, Dylan Hartley-Matteson, Jack Hebert, Caryn Heise, Elizabeth Higgins, Derek Hiralall, Sakurako Huynh-Aoyama, Emily Kilpatrick, Rosemary Lally, Aiden Lamontagne, Storm Lanzoni, Brady LaPierre, Ashley Lawrence, Philip le Gassick, Jillian LeBlanc, Brady Lee, Nicole Londergan, Myles Lopes, Mackenzie Luong, Drew MacGregor, Alexander Marsden, Jacksen Martin, Kyle McCullough, William McIlmail, Hailey Murphy, Samuel Newton, Alexander Nguyen, Jordan Nguyen, Camryn Nye, Quinn O’Brien-Nichols, William O’Shaughnessy, Abigail Paulette, Kaitlin Peck, Andrew Poulin, Jeffrey Radek, Lauren Rapoza, Henry Richards, Corinne Robert, Reagan Rock, Walter Rosher, Mariah Ruell, Kira Sarkarati, Norah Schiappa, Ella Shultz, Kyle Smith, Laura Spearin, Emma Van Ness, Isabella Vanderpol, Mackenzie Vigeant, Arianna Vinagre, Emma Welter, Samuel Williamson.
The MAC announces a new exhibit, The New Printmakers, with works by Taylor Hickey and Janie Kinnane, featuring student work from Old Rochester Regional and Tabor Academy. The show runs Saturday, February 18-Friday, March 24, and an artists’ reception is scheduled on Saturday, March 4 from 3:00-5:00 pm. Receptions are always free and open to the public. Visit the MAC galleries to view Kinnane’s oversized woodblock prints, Hickey’s 2D wall pieces and 3D sculptural work utilizing watercolor and linocut techniques, plus student projects exploring various printmaking processes. Learn more at marionartcenter.org.
The February 14 meeting of the Mattapoisett Select Board found the members not only filling empty seats on various boards and committees but also noting the number of seats that are up for reelection or to be filled with new faces come May 16.
Mattapoisett’s 2023 Election Nomination papers have been available since January 30 with the last day to request papers being March 24 at 5 pm. One of the seats that will become vacant is that on the Select Board. Tyler Macallister’s term will be ending. When asked if he will seek reelection he stated, “The jury is out.”
Other seats coming available include that of Town Moderator. After more than 20 years as the Town Meeting voice (along with other responsibilities) Jack Eklund is hanging up (or dropping) the microphone. In a letter to the Board, he said he would not be seeking reelection in May.
Another pivotal position up for reelection is that of the Town Clerk. Other seats are: assessor, Mattapoisett School Committee, two seats on the Old Rochester School Committee, two seats on the Trustee of the Public Library, water/sewer commissioner, Board of Health, Planning Board, Mattapoisett Housing Authority and two seats on the Community Preservation Act committee. Complete details are available at Mattapoisett.net.
On this night, the Board also appointed five new members to various committees. They are, Jan Brodie to the Mattapoisett Tree Committee, Lauren Rosa and Cecile Callahan as members of the Council on Aging Board of Directors, Bonne DeSousa to the Mattapoisett Bike Committee and Jennifer Wong as a member of the South Coast Bikeway Alliance. The Board also accepted resignations from Seth Asser from the South Coast Bikeway Alliance and Steven Cassidy from the Old Colony School Committee.
The Board also formally established the Holy Ghost Reuse Committee charge the essence of which is to explore opportunities for effectively using the 5-acre parcel. The committee will be comprised of members from the Recreation Department, Highway Department, Council on Aging, Capital Planning, an interested party for a future dog park at the location and two at-large members to be selected by the committee. Lorenco said that the town is seeking grant opportunities that may be used to make improvements and renovations to the existing structure and the grounds.
Updated Harbor Rules and Regulations will finally see the light of day after several years’ worth of meetings, discussions and revisions by the Marine Advisory Board. Chairman Carlos DeSousa said the majority of the changes were formatting issues and grammatical errors that needed to be corrected. The new edition will also include a fee schedule that was also recently updated. All that is left to do now is post the revised document for public review and comment and hold a public meeting, Board Member Jordan Collyer stated.
The Board discussed the opening of bidding for one concession location at Shipyard Park. It was noted that every three years, the singular concession site must be opened to requests for bids. Those interested will find details at Mattapoisett.net at the end of February.
Lorenco updated the Board on the status of the Long Wharf construction project. He said the town’s engineering firm Childs Engineering is researching contractors to perform test borings and exploring possible cost saving measures. He also said that the 2021 Annual Report was now complete and will be posted to the town’s website.
The Board will meet on February 15 at 6 pm to discuss departmental budgets for Water/Sewer Enterprise Funds, Highway Department, Town Library, Board of Health and Council on Aging.
The next regular meeting of the Mattapoisett Select Board is planned for February 28, time to be posted.
Mattapoisett Select Board
By Marilou Newell