News

News

Nearly $300K in state funding awarded to Tri-Town bike paths

Two Tri-Town trail projects are receiving substantial infusions of state money. Collectively, nearly $300,000 from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation is coming to bike paths in Mattapoisett and Marion, according to...

The streets are alive with July 4th festivities

O say can you see the hundreds of runners pacing through the streets of Mattapoisett Village? The 52nd iteration of the Mattapoisett Road Race is Thursday, July 4. The four-mile run on Independence Day will have participants race from the town wharf...

Old Rochester Superintendent passes annual review with flying colors

MATTAPOISETT — One word was repeated over and over again in an annual review of Superintendent Mike Nelson’s performance at a meeting of the Old Rochester Regional School District’s joint school committee on Thursday, June 20: Exemplary. Rochester...

Rochester bike ride raises over $42,000 towards fight against cancer

ROCHESTER — More than 200 children sat on their bicycles on the morning of Sunday, June 23, eagerly waiting for the seventh annual Pan-Mass Challenge Cranberry Country Kids Ride to kick off. But before bikers could take on the 3-mile track around...

‘Historic fair with colonial flair’ paired with new exhibit

ROCHESTER — From muskets, to an organ, to a ouija board, a wide variety of objects could be found at the Rochester Historical Society on Saturday, June 22. Two events took place on that same day: the opening of a new exhibit, which teaches about...

Tri-Town kids befriend ‘Stars of tomorrow’

MATTAPOISETT — The motto of the Cape Cod Baseball League is “Where the stars of tomorrow shine tonight.” Tri-Town youngsters were able to interact with some of these stars at the Mattapoisett Library on the morning of Saturday, June 22. Players from...

Dog bites man at Rochester community block party

ROCHESTER — Visibly hungry, Lilac the cow kept munching on hay. Behind her, Bobby McGee — also a cow — mooed. They came to the Rochester Senior Center for a community block party event Friday, June 21 Among several other attractions, animals may...

Summer in the village: Heat gets beat

MATTAPOISETT — It’s hot in the Tri-Town — hot enough that Terri Carando, a Mattapoisett resident who had just returned Thursday from South Carolina, said it felt cooler there. Carando was one of many spending Friday, June 21 in Mattapoisett Village...

Diverse library dedicated at Juneteenth celebration

MATTAPOISETT — On a day where temperatures reached nearly 90 degrees, members of the Tri-Town Against Racism community braved the heat to celebrate Juneteenth in the park under Ned’s Point Lighthouse. A free diverse library in the park was dedicated...

Funding of Mattapoisett road project comes into question at MassDOT info meeting

MATTAPOISETT — Mattapoisett Town Administrator Mike Lorenco was "perfectly honest" during a June 18 meeting held by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation regarding a plan to renovate village streets. "If this project moves forward, you're...

Updated: Statewide 911 service restored in Tri-Town

The Massachusetts 911 system has been restored, according to state police. The 911 system across Massachusetts experienced outages Tuesday, June 18. According to the Marion Police Department, 911 service in Marion was not working...

‘We love the sunshine’: Silvershell opens for the season

MARION – Ask anyone enjoying the sand and sun at Marion’s Silvershell Beach on Monday, June 17, and they’ll say the same thing: Summer is here. Monday was opening day at Silvershell Beach, and residents of Marion and Rochester were making the most...

Second iteration of Rochester Senior Center block party approaching

ROCHESTER — Meet a cow, play with massive bubbles and line dance — all at the Rochester Senior Center, where a block party to open the summer is approaching fast. The Rochester community block party, organized by the Friends of the Rochester Senior...

Taber Library kicks summer reading off with block party

MARION — Somewhere atop the inflatable obstacle course was Elena Tourinho. She had found a friend amidst the vinyl labyrinth, an attraction at the Elizabeth Taber Library’s summer kick-off block party Saturday, June 15. The block party celebrates...

Long road for Long Wharf redesign project

MATTAPOISETT — Since June 2022, the Mattapoisett Select Board and Marine Advisory Board have been at work to repair and redesign the town’s “deteriorating” Long Wharf. Now, a representative from Childs Engineering, the Bellingham-based group...

Responsibilities drafted for Mattapoisett roadway project committee

MATTAPOISETT — An outline of the tasks and duties has been drafted for the committee that will oversee the design and construction of the redevelopment of certain roadways in Mattapoisett Village. The project has generated much discussion within the...

Old Colony administrators swap roles ahead of current principal’s retirement

ROCHESTER – The principal and assistant principal at Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School are swapping roles in July. Old Colony is bumping up assistant principal Gary Linehan to principal at the beginning of next month. Linehan is...

Sippican School students get taste of summer at Band Blast

MARION — On the night before their final day of school, Sippican Elementary School students got a little taste of summer at the school’s 22nd annual Band Blast on Monday, June 10. Along with giving students a chance to play their instruments and an...

Old Hammondtown School sixth graders recognized with promotion ceremony

MATTAPOISETT — Students of Old Hammondtown School gathered in the cafeteria on the morning of Tuesday, June 11, the last day of school. The gathering, a sixth grade promotion ceremony, recognized rising junior high students for their time at the...

Four-legged friend joins Sippican School staff

MARION — Sippican Elementary School students will have a new friend to hang out with upon returning to school in the fall: a labrador retriever named Norman. Norman will be partnered up with School Resource Officer Jon Tracy of the Marion Police...

Marion Fire Department awarded fire education grant, receives new equipment

MARION — The Marion Fire Department received nearly $7,000 in grant funding for fire safety, the department announced Tuesday, June 11. With funds from a prior grant, the department also secured breathing apparatus equipment. The $6,893 in grant...

Rod and gun club scholarship funds students’ environmental endeavors

MIDDLEBORO – The Wankinquoah Rod and Gun Club Scholarship Committee is helping to build the next generation of “responsible and ethical sportspersons” by awarding $6,000 in scholarships to local high school seniors this year. The committee gave a...

Applications open for Independence Day parade in Marion

MARION — Independence Day is less than a month away, and so Marion’s annual parade is just around the corner. The parade begins at 9 a.m. Thursday, July 4. It will form at 8 a.m. in the ballfield behind the Marion Town House adjacent to Sippican...

Marion church delves into its past with tour, presentation

MARION — The bell of the First Congregational Church of Marion rang several times Saturday morning. The rings weren’t to signal a new hour or a call to worship. The repeated, irregular tolls of the bell were, in a sense, the sounds of history. In...

Rochester Select Board approves town administrator job description

ROCHESTER — The Rochester Select Board approved an updated job description for the open town administrator position on Thursday, June 6. According to Select Board chair and member of the town administrator search committee Brad Morse, the town will...

Old Rochester teacher documents disappearances of five women in new book

Kathleen Brunelle was looking through old newspapers when she came across the story that would prompt her to write her most recently released book. An English teacher at Old Rochester Regional High School, Brunelle was researching at the time for a...

Rochester wins National ‘Quality in Construction’ award for asphalt pavement

ROCHESTER — The Rochester Highway Department was presented a “Quality in Construction” award from the National Asphalt Pavement Association for work done to High Street in 2023. On Monday, June 3, Highway Surveyor Jeff Eldridge showed the Rochester...

Afterschool group at Marion Natural History Museum explores Ram Island

MARION — The afterschool group at the Marion Natural History Museum explored and mapped Ram Island May 29 and 30, joined by Michael and Hannah Moore. The group investigated salt marshes, mapped osprey nests, found horseshoe crabs, and met donkeys,...

Marion EMT Association ceases operations

MARION — After more than 40 years of activity, the Marion EMT Association has ceased operations. Founded in 1980, the charity financially supported pre-hospital care in Marion. As of 2024, it has donated the last of its funds, according to a letter...

‘Scorpion Slayer’ makes world premiere at spring concert

MATTAPOISETT — The audience at Old Rochester Regional Junior High School’s spring concert on Wednesday, May 29 was the first crowd to ever hear a song called “Scorpion Slayer” played live. The school’s eighth grade band performed the world premiere...

Old Colony seniors ready for skilled trade careers

ROCHESTER — Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School seniors are “workforce ready,” according to superintendent Aaron Polansky. Seniors entering the workforce full-time at Old Colony were recognized at an industry signing day ceremony on...

Mattapoisett Select Board initiates process to form roadway project committee

MATTAPOISETT — When an article regarding the creation of a committee to review the Main, Water, Beacon and Marion roadways project was discussed — and then approved — at Mattapoisett Town Meeting , it was specified that the item was not legally...

Longtime Marion town employee says goodbye after 32 years

MARION — A longtime town of Marion employee who is credited with saving the Marion Town House from catching fire in 2000 will retire from her role after 32 years. Accounts payable clerk Kathy Kearns smelled something burning shortly before the...

Vinodivino looks to bring high-quality, affordable wine to Marion

MARION — Vinodivino, a wine shop with four existing locations in the Greater Boston area, has opened another. It occupies the former site of Spirits, a liquor store that closed earlier this year, on Front Street in Marion. The business celebrated...

Ceremony in the works for United States’ 250th anniversary

MATTAPOISETT — Plans are already underway in Mattapoisett for the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 2026. In recent weeks, volunteers have been helping the Mattapoisett Cemetery and Memorial...

History of Marion VFW shared at Memorial Day exhibit

MARION — A game of donkey ball was had in Marion on a Thursday night in July 1959. Donkey baseball is similar to regular baseball, except that the fielders and baserunners played mounted on the eponymous animal. Charles R. Washburn Memorial Field...

Mattapoisett observes Memorial Day with ceremony, procession

MATTAPOISETT — Memorial Day is about memory and meaning — thinking back and looking forward — state representative Bill Straus said at Mattapoisett’s annual Memorial Day ceremony Monday, May 27. The town observed Memorial Day with a ceremony at...

‘Remember their names’: Marion observes Memorial Day with address by local veteran

MARION — A veteran of the Vietnam War encouraged fellow Marion residents to remember the names of fallen American service members during the town’s Memorial Day ceremony Monday, May 27. Charles Brown, a Silver Star and three-time Purple Heart...

Updated: Rochester Boat Race paddles into 90th year

This story has been updated to include the winners in each category, and other recognitions. ROCHESTER – Before the first crack of the starting gun at the Rochester Memorial Day Boat Race, two-and-a-half-year-old Leeland MacGregor...

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