Kindergarten Registration

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School Year 2023 – 2024 Kindergarten Registration for the towns of Marion, Mattapoisett & Rochester is now available.

-Sippican School –16 Spring Street, Marion

-Rochester Memorial School – 16 Pine Street, Rochester

-Center School – 17 Barstow Street, Mattapoisett

            The Kindergarten Registration Information is now available on the Old Rochester Regional School District website (oldrochester.org) and the Elementary School website.

            Please visit the Elementary School website of your town to receive login information for your respective school. On the ORRSD website, click Select a School in the upper left corner of the page, then select your respective school.

            This information is provided under the Families & Students drop-down menu and then by selecting Kindergarten Transition.

Access to Town Counsel Debated

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            Representatives of Rochester town departments and boards met Tuesday night to review the new policy on access to Town Counsel, section by section, to iron out the concerns of some board members.

            Planning Board Chairman Arnold Johnson conducted the paragraph-by-paragraph review after Select Board Chairman Woody Hartley said the meeting had been scheduled to come up with solutions to board members’ problems with the document as the town works to revise it.

            Attorney Jay Talerman of new Town Counsel Mead, Talerman & Costa, LLC, provided the answers to concerns that focused on who can directly access town counsel for the answers to important legal questions and whether new procedures will slow down critical response times.

            The first question came from Conservation Commission Chairman Christopher Gerrior, who asked what is the target number or limit for queries that boards can send to legal counsel.

            Talerman said his law firm will not be billing the town by the hour. The town will pay a flat fee every month. That fee will be altered only if his firm becomes flooded with legal queries every day and is higher than the usual flow of work expected.

            Talerman noted two of his firm’s attorneys are Rochester residents, and a town counsel attorney will be available at Town Hall every Monday, a reference to the fact that the former Town Counsel Blair Bailey worked out of a Town Hall office and was regularly available.

            The new document reads that all requests for Town Counsel’s help be managed through the town administrator. Also, “every effort shall be made to answer routine legal questions independently,” it reads. Talerman said that means board professionals should be able to answer simple legal questions on their own.

            Once the initial request for a legal opinion has been granted by the town administrator, contact for that issue if it is ongoing can be direct, meeting attendees learned.

            Town Administrator Glenn Cannon asked what if he himself ever became the legal problem needing Town Counsel’s opinion. Talerman said then the Select Board could make the direct town-counsel contact.

            To the question of how fast a board can get a quick answer to an important legal question in an emergency, Talerman said it should be easy to email Cannon, who would forward the request right away to Mead, Talerman and Costa, LLC. Then his firm will respond promptly to any last-minute emergency request. “We’ll make sure you get the answers,” he said. “We will never leave you in the lurch.”

            Johnson said he had a big problem with the provision that reads a board’s requests for legal opinion must be by a majority vote of that board. “This will drag out the process even more,” he said.

            “I would have to wait for the next meeting and have eight people agree,” fellow Planning Board member Ben Bailey said. “I would like to have this whole bullet point struck.”

            “I don’t want to wait for a majority vote all the time,” Johnson said.

            Talerman said this provision could be expanded to include the board chair. He added that board staff, such as the town planner or conservation agent, could approach Cannon with a town-counsel question independently.

            Select Board member Paul Ciaburri had the last word on this issue, noting, “Let’s see how this works, then come back to it. This is new to all of us.”

            The meeting ended with a decision to delete the new policy’s “Litigation” provision and insert the town bylaw on the subject. This was decided because the document states, “it is the Board of Selectmen’s general policy to provide counsel for any municipal board or employee in litigation arising under said municipal employee’s or board’s capacity.” Attendees concluded the town bylaw itself is stronger on this provision for ensuring employees can access Town Counsel.

            Hartley said in conclusion that the board will now put in changes discussed and give the document back to the attendees when finished.

            Attendees included the chair and members of the Planning Board and the Conservation Commission, all three Select Board members, Fire Chief Scott Weigel, Highway Surveyor Jeff Eldridge, Town Planner Nancy Durfee, Building Commissioner Paul Boucher, Conservation Agent Merilee Kelly and Health Director Karen Walega.

Rochester Interdepartmental Meeting

By Michael J. DeCicco

Plumb Library March Events

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COA Book Group will meet at the Rochester Council on Aging on Tuesday, March 21 at 1:00 pm. We will be discussing The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis. The next book will be The Maid by Nita Prose, and copies will be available at the meeting to borrow. Please bring your library card.

            Books & Babble Book Club will meet at the library on Thursday, March 30 at 6:30 pm to discuss Becoming Dr. Seuss: Theodor Geisel and the Making of an American Imagination by Brian Jay Jones. Copies are available for checkout at the front desk.

            Spring Storytime is happening from March 14 through April 14. Registration is required. Please visit the library’s Events Calendar to register. Baby and Toddler Tales is on Tuesdays at 10:30 am, Preschool Power Storytime is on Wednesdays at 10:30 am and Thursdays at 1:30 pm, Twos and Threes Together is on Fridays at 10:30 am.

            A new Scrambled Word is available every Monday – just ask at the front desk. Starting March 1 (while supplies last) stop in to pick up a beautiful “Take and Make” handprint leprechaun kit. One per child, please. Please consider sharing your creation for display in the children’s area bay window.

            To recognize Dr. Seuss’ Birthday (March 2), visit the library to search for famous Dr. Seuss book characters hiding throughout the building. Count all the cardboard characters you find. Quietly tell a librarian where the characters were hiding. If you find all the characters, you earn a prize from the Treasure Chest. The cardboard characters will be in the same place for the month of March.

            For more information, please follow us on Facebook, email info@plumblibrary.com, or call the library at 508-763-8600.

Davis Bates Performs a Celtic Celebration

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The Mattapoisett Free Public Library will celebrate St Patrick’s Day, Celtic culture and the arrival of spring by presenting a performance by Parents’ Choice Award winning performer Davis Bates. Entitled “A Celtic Celebration”, the program will involve the audience in a variety of cultural traditions. It will include traditional songs and tales from Ireland, Scotland & Wales, sea songs and chanteys, ghost stories and family tales. There will also be plenty of singalongs, a short lesson in how to play music with spoons from a kitchen drawer and an appearance by an Irish dancing wooden dog named Bingo.

            Pete and Toshi Seeger called Davis “thoughtful, creative, human and a fantastic storyteller.” Davis’ traditional and participatory performance style empowers and encourages audiences of all ages to join in the fun and to take the songs and stories home with them to share with others. He also encourages listeners to remember and share stories and songs from their own family and cultural traditions.

            Davis Bates has been telling stories for over 44 years, in schools, libraries, colleges and community settings around New England and across the country. His recording of Family Stories won a Parent’s Choice Gold Award and was named one of the year’s best Audio Recordings by Booklist Magazine. Davis has also served as director and consultant for several local and regional oral history and folk arts projects. Davis lives in the village of Shelburne Falls, MA, and when he isn’t collecting or learning stories, he spends his time working with the Hampshire College Alumni Advisory Group and gardening and working on pollinator plantings on the Hampshire campus and at home.

            The performance, recommended for older children, teens and adults, will take place at the Mattapoisett Free Public Library on Saturday, March 18, beginning at 2:00 pm. No registration is required. For more information, please call 508-758-4171.

Library Books

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To the Editor;

            Recently, regional news reports have chronicled actual behaviors now occurring within local school districts that point to racism: pure and simple. And the removal (banning) of select literary classics from school library shelves that has come to be reveals to me—a retired high school English teacher—that there are people in our society who—willfully or not—prefer going backwards into the segregated and closed-minded times of the 1950s rather than openly welcoming the diversity that our current 21st Century society reflects.

            Tri-Town Against Racism or TTAR, founded by Rochester resident-moms, Alison Noyce and Rhonda Baptiste would not have needed to exist if accounts of various race-related mistreatments from within their children’s ORR school district had not—purely by chance—meandered into to their consciousness a few years ago. Noyce, the mother of two adopted sons who are Black, and Baptiste, the mother of a biracial student at Old Rochester Junior High School realized how when school district families are isolated one from the other—whether by design or by choice—unchecked race-related mistreatment within schools is allowed to continue, and unchecked misinformation is allowed to dominate over truth. I am heartened that Noyce and Baptiste have made available the TTAR non-profit initiative that includes its website where open and truthful communication can perpetuate moving forward.

            Mattapoisett residents of 25 years, Bev Baccelli and Liz DiCarlo have likewise published their views in their town’s January 5th publication, The Wanderer not only about incidents of racial bullying in Mattapoisett schools, but also about attempts being made to remove junior and senior high school library books, particularly those having to do with LGBTQ individuals and those of color. Baccelli and DiCarlo are quick to commend what they’d encountered at community forums where school administration officials and professional librarians discussed issues brought before various board members, but they were also “amazed at some of the language and innuendos expressed by others in attendance, including some elected officials”.

            When a librarian or language arts teacher works closely with students within academic settings, every single vetted piece of literature being selected for study is one of WHOLE purpose. And the wholeness cannot be appreciated without the scope of understanding and knowledge that the trained and seasoned professional applies to the learning process.

            It is time to stop pretending that our society is made up of only the “tribe” that each of us might be in. It is time to stop pretending that the other families within our various school districts ought to be just like our own in color and culture because if they are not, there must be something about them needing to conform to our limited scope. It is time to stop pretending to convince ourselves that what we never bother to explore must be okay as is. It is time to stop pretending that works of literature can be defined by a phrase on a page, or a title, or by what a single individual—with no contextual understanding of content or potential value within the teaching and learning experience—defines that work to be.

            Stifled and non-communication imposed by the few is never the evolutionary path to healthy growth for any community. This is precisely because each community—our human race—IS diverse. Embracing our human melting pot is embracing our whole truth, our whole reality, no matter the generation.

            Gina L. Despres (retired high school Language Arts / English teacher of 30 years)

The views expressed in the “Letters to the Editor” column are not necessarily those of The Wanderer, its staff or advertisers. The Wanderer will gladly accept any and all correspondence relating to timely and pertinent issues in the great Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester area, provided they include the author’s name, address and phone number for verification. We cannot publish anonymous, unsigned or unconfirmed submissions. The Wanderer reserves the right to edit, condense and otherwise alter submissions for purposes of clarity and/or spacing considerations. The Wanderer may choose to not run letters that thank businesses, and The Wanderer has the right to edit letters to omit business names. The Wanderer also reserves the right to deny publication of any submitted correspondence.

Bay Club Subdivision Reviewed

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            Dave Andrews of the Bay Club Real Estate Holdings and engineer Bob Field of Field Engineering came before the Mattapoisett Planning Board on Monday night to request approval of a Form C Definitive Subdivision for parcels located inside the original 624-plus acres.

            Original conceptual plans for the site in question were for the construction of a conference center. Original plans also included an equestrian center, Andrews said. But the real-estate climate has changed over the years since Bay Club planners presented their drawings. The conference center parcel is now planned for housing.

            Andrews said demand for smaller townhouse units became feasible with the inclusion of zero-lot-line cluster subdivisions to the town’s bylaws. The neighborhood referred to as Split Rock “sold out” quickly when the developers offered smaller townhouse units.

            Now, Andrews said, he has a waiting list of people interested in this latest development of two-bedroom units that will have a two-car garage and loft area that can be converted into a bedroom space. Twelve units are planned. He said that the project was approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals and that the Conservation Commission has conditioned the project.

            Field explained the stormwater management system with member Nathan Ketchel asking for time to review the calculations. The review was continued to March 20.

            Jim Pavlik of Outback Engineering, representing Sun Partners Solar for the construction of a ground-mounted solar array totaling 198.8 KW, came before the board.

            Pavlik noted of the reopened hearing that acceptance of the dual-use plan, the array field, will allow for agricultural activity beneath the ground-mounted panels, has not yet included state approval. However, Site-Plan Review could move forward, Ketchel confirmed.

            Two votes by the board were needed before further action could take place, Pavlik stated. The board voted to accept the plan of record and granted work within a floodplain described as minimal and temporary.

            The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Planning Board was not announced upon adjournment.

Mattapoisett Planning Board

By Marilou Newell

Great Horned Owl a Great Hunter

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            The Great Horned Owl is found everywhere in America because of its aggressive and powerful hunting ability. It is also known as the Tiger Owl for taking prey as various as rabbits, hares, snakes and even skunks. It will even attack a porcupine or a Bald Eagle, often with fatal results for both prey and predator.

            My illustration shows a pair already nesting now in late winter, well earlier than any other birds, in a tree behind my seaside home on Little Bay in Fairhaven. The female shown on the right of my drawing is always bigger than the male. The facial disk design on her chest of front feathers has the channel passage to send and direct sound directly into her ears so her hearing is much better than that of humans.

            The ear tufts on each side of the owls’ heads have nothing to do with acting as horns as a weapon to protect themselves, and the owls’ eyes are fixed in their heads so to follow a vision moving to either side requires turning their heads in a circle around the body to stay focused. If their heads are always pointed right at you, the expression on their faces seems to look right through your every thought about them.

            The hooting of this owl is usually low pitched, lasting for five or six startling calls, especially in courtship communication early in the season to get a prospective mate’s undivided attention. Such a deep hoot has a special meaning and quality to be heard rolling through the night into every corner of the forest and resounding unlike any other mating invitation you have ever heard.

            The presently wide, northern-hemisphere distribution of this species apparently goes back to fossils found at the end of the ice-age passage across the Bering Strait in Alaska with the Snowy Owl that began for both species to spread its distribution widely into the present time. The Horned Owl came ahead somewhere in time with the heaviest anatomy with 4 feet in height and a wingspan of more than 3 feet.

            When this remarkable creature crosses your bird-watching experience, it makes a lasting impression never to be forgotten to tell future generations about what you have just experienced by reading and visualizing my article in this issue.

By George Emmons

Let’s Make a Pinhole Camera

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Attend a free workshop entitled, Let’s Make a Pinhole Camera at the Mattapoisett Free Public Library on Sunday, March 26 from 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm with local photographer David Walega. This free workshop is in conjunction with Walega’s Mattapoisett Library Artist Series exhibit entitled, Let the River Run running from March 21 to April 14, which includes his photographs taken with a wooden pinhole camera documenting his 11-mile journey of the Mattapoisett River. The pinhole camera is an ideal tool for teaching the fundamental principles of photography and its simple design allows for easy construction and use. This hands-on experience of making a pinhole camera will give attendees the tools to document the local environment while gaining a fundamental understanding of image making. The workshop will be limited to 12 participants and registration is required. The library is handicapped accessible.

Rochester Historical Society

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It’s almost spring, and things are stirring at the Historical Society. Our first meeting is April 19 at 7:00 at the museum, 355 County Rd. The program will discuss Rochester’s many celebrations, pre-1940.

            May brings us both the bees of Nettie’s Bees and the Historical Commission’s dedication of the new Revolutionary War Memorial. There is a new start time for the dedication events. We will be starting at 2:00 pm on May 7 in front of Town Hall.

            Anyone who still wants to join the Historical Society can do so by contacting Connie at eshbach2@aol.com or Sue at sash48@comcast.net or call her at 508-295-8908 or you can pay them at the April meeting.

From the Files of the Rochester Historical Society

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One of the many maps in our museum exhibit is titled, “Original Purchases from the Indians.” It was a gift to our historical society from the Lakeville Historical Society in 1974. On this map it is possible to trace some of the early North American pathways. Many of these became the template for the roads of early settlers.

            One such path was actually known as “Old Path”. It began in Plymouth and was for many years, the start of the stagecoach road to Dartmouth. Another ancient pathway met the “Old Path” a little northeast of Mary’s Pond. It led from Sandwich to Dartmouth, going through Rochester Center near the cemetery. In the early days of the town, it was called the “Country Road”. Later it was known in Rochester as “the Rhode Island Path.” As time went on, it became part of the Plymouth to New Bedford stage route.

            Another Native American trail began in Middleboro, went passed the Union Cemetery and continued down the west shore of Sippican. It became known as “Old Bay Path.”

            Theses paths were worn into the land by Native Americans who walked them for centuries. While they were well defined, they were narrow and only suitable for foot traffic. With the passage of time, early residents used them as bridal paths, and some were later widened to serve as wagon roads.

            Along with these trails through the woods, The Native Americans left us their names for area spots. Some that have remained are: Mattapoisett, Assawompset and Quitticus. Others have disappeared. Looking at the 1704 map of Rochester in our display, you can find Nipesincas Little Pond. On the 1795 map, it has become Snows Pond and on the 1854 map, an apostrophe has been added as well as the nearby residence of N. Snow.

            Maps are fascinating and at our September 20 meeting, Charlie Rowley will present a program; “Mapping Rochester”.

By Connie Eshbach