Westport in Brief!
EverythingWestport.com
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Quick Article Index . . .
Selectmen seat and reorganize
a new Select Board.
Trustees of Reservations Seeks
Applicants for Youth Corps Program.
Dartmouth Farmer's Market will
open its' seventh season on June 1st.
Greenwich Village Booklovers
Adventure.
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Selectmen seat
and reorganize a new Select Board. Board allows COA
Director Mary Ellen Gomes to hire part-time Adult Day Care Program aides. EverythingWestport.com Sunday,
April 17, 2012 Select Board sound bites. Selectmen seat and
reorganize a new Select Board.
Above from the left: Vice Chairman Antone Vieira, Stephen
Ouellette, Chairman Richard Spirlet, Craig Dutra, and R. Michael Sullivan. Richard Spirlet
remains as Chairman, Antone Vieira is appointed
Vice Chair, and newest member R. Michael Sullivan was named Clerk. But the Council
of Aging (COA) stole opening ceremonies as Mary Ellen Gomes marshaled a sea
of senior supporters to push her cause for adding two per-diem workers to her
Adult Day Care Program.
Left: Over 40 seniors came out in support of the Council on Aging request for
addition day care program aides. Right: COA Director Mary Ellen Gomes
pleads her case with Selectmen. The Adult day
care program now serves 15 elderly town residents. "Third
time's the charm," as they say, and Gomes, in her third meeting with
Selectmen, finally got their approval despite a hiring freeze and
level-funded budgets. Gomes was
scrambling to replace the funding previously provided by a federally funded
employment program for the elderly. Gomes, who had
been running the program with a director, two program aides and four senior
aids, was seeking to add an acting
Assistant Social Day Care Director and two "per-diem" social day
care program aides. The select Board
two days previous had promoted the Acting Assistant to full time. "We agree
it's (day care program) well run and a necessity; that's not the issue of
myself or this board," Chairman Richard Spirlet said. "We agree the
COA deserves everything we can get." "But we put
a hiring freeze in the town; we found out the budgets are real bad,"
Spirlet said. Spirlet also
pointed out the uncertainty of unemployment benefits these individuals could
receive if they were laid off due to budget shortfalls. "The town
is self-insured, according to the Town Treasurer, and if somebody is laid off
we have to pay it," Spirlet said. There was a
question as to whether the workers would be part-time up to 19.5 hours per
week, or per-diem. In the end the
Selectmen overcame their own concerns and unanimously voted to allow Gomes to
hire as "many per-diem day care program aids as you think you could
support" and pay them out of the COA's own revolving account funded by
day care receipts.
Above: COA Director Mary Ellen Gomes shows Day Care Program
photos on her IPad to Selectmen. Selectmen still
have to "nod their approval" on the new hires, according to Town
Administrator Jack Healey. Selectman Antone Vieira cautioned Gomes that the Selectmen would be
dealing with a lot of departments and "we have to get pretty creative in
trying to figure out how we're going to provide the level of services they
need with less funds, probably with less personnel," Vieira said "We need
your help and cooperation. The Counsel on Aging has
grown under your leadership, and we certainly appreciate that," he said.
Gomes reminded
the Selectmen that the town pays no salaries or benefits for Social Day Care
Program employees.
Left: In other COA news, longtime and well-liked Toni Cormier, Principle Clerk
at the Senior Center, tendered her resignation. Right: Animal Control Officer Donna Lambert provided an update on
the rabies clinic to be held this Saturday, April 21, from 10 a.m. to noon at
the Hix Bridge Fire Station. The cost is $10 per animal.
All dogs must be leashed, and all cats must be crated.
The attending veterinarian is Jacqueline Brito. For
more information, call Westport Animal Control at 508.991.9391. Town may see a $3.2 debt exclusion
article at the ballot box at Town Meeting if Selectman Craig Dutra has his
way. Dutra, who felt
voters were ambushed with misleading information distributed in a mailing at
the last minute to town residents, said he was disturbed over the Westport
Taxpayers Association letter, and that it was the reason the Proposition 2
1/2 override for Middle School PCB remediation costs failed at the town's
annual April election. He would like to
see the ballot question come up again, possibly this summer or fall. Paint your town green - tick
awareness.
Janice Dey came before the board to discuss tick awareness as
part of the Paint your Town Green initiative. The new Select
Board then got right down to business with a lengthy agenda that included
among other items: authorized the planting of a flowering tree at the Town
Hall Annex by the Westport River gardeners, addressed an issue raised by
Attorney Dorothy Tongue on the disposition of town-owned land, moved up the
date to Monday, April 23rd allowing East Beach trailers to return to the
battered beach as long as residents didn't occupy them until May 1st., and
noted the approval of town boards on accepting four town road layouts for town
meeting approval. EverythingWestport.com Thursday, April
19, 2012 Friends of Westport Library (FOWL) Seeks Volunteers. Are you a fan of Westport’s wonderful library? Do you wonder
how you can offer support other than money but perhaps have minimal time to
devote to volunteer work? FOWL has opportunities for you. Here are a few ideas: take photographs of the library season by
season or photographs of events; help publicize events and the annual book
sale; plan events; this Spring and Summer sort books for the annual sale in
September; write short articles for a newsletter; help us develop an active Facebook page. Time commitment ranges from a few
hours total once a year to a few hours per month. So far in 2012 FOWL has committed $9,800.00
to the Library for purchase of new books, CDs, and DVDs, sponsorship of
children’s programs, and passes to museums. Help to keep this growing. For more information contact Kate Kastner 508.636.0225, email her at: kate.kastner@charter.net,
or speak to your friendly library staff. Book Store within the Library. Friends of the Westport Library (FOWL) offers several
hundred used books for sale for $1 - $2 each during hours the Library is
open. Fiction, Non-fiction, décor, gardening, essentially anything the
volunteers stocking the shelves think buyers will like. Shelving is located
next to the circulation desk and in the front hallway. Inventory changes frequently. Pay at the circulation desk. Proceeds
benefit the Library. Easy.
There will be a donation box in the
lobby of the Westport Library. Last year the number of books on offer at the
sale was comparable to the largest sales in the area thanks to donor efforts
to reduce their own inventory and pass books on to a new home. The proceeds, over $6,000.00 in 2011, were
used to benefit the library primarily through purchase of books, CDs, and
DVDs for circulation to patrons. The donated books reappear in two
sales: a special paperbacks-only sale July 23rd - August 3rd (700 paperbacks
sold in 2011) and the Annual Sale of thousands of books in all categories
September 8th - 15th. Books should be
in good condition, free of must and mold. Please note, we do not accept
textbooks, law books, encyclopedias, magazines and VHS cassettes because they
will not sell. Please be aware that if left at the library these become a
burden for the volunteers to discard. Trustees
of Reservations Seeks Applicants for Youth Corps Program. EverythingWestport.com Thursday, April
19, 2012 The Trustees of Reservations is
currently accepting applicants for its South Coast Youth Corps program. The South Coast Youth Corps offers
in-depth learning and leadership opportunities for youth who are interested in
outdoor environmental work. This summer, The Trustees is teaming up with the
Southeastern Environmental Education Alliance (SEEAL) to expand the program,
doubling the number of youth positions to include a New Bedford and Roving
Crew, in addition to a Fall River Bioreserve and
Westport Town Farm Crew. Youth Corps members serve as trail
workers, research assistants, community organizers, and farm apprentices.
Youth complete ecological restoration projects and trail maintenance, work in
community gardens and city parks, and are trained to lead outdoor nature
programs for school and community groups. The Youth Corps program aims to
increase community involvement among youth by offering young people
employment that develops leadership skills and provides real benefits to the
local community and environment. The South Coast Youth Corps offers a
powerful learning experience that incorporates academic and work skills into
practical projects both in the city and on conservation lands. Applicants must be between 16 and 19
years old, demonstrate maturity, dependability, and leadership potential, and
be willing to work outdoors in all weather conditions. Youth Corps members
are paid $8.50 an hour for 32 hours a week during the months of July and
August. To request an application call or
click Linton Harrington, South Coast Outreach & Education Coordinator at lharrington@ttor.org
or 508.636.4693 ext. 11. Completed applications are due no later than June
1st. To learn more visit: http://www.facebook.com/southcoastyouthcorps
or http://www.thetrustees.org/what-we-care-about/learning-discovery/south-coast-youth-corps.html. About The Trustees Youth Conservation Corps: The South Coast Youth Corps, now in its 8th year, is
one of six crews of The Trustees Youth Conservation Corps (TYCC), across the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Trustees Youth Conservation Corps Program
aims to offer high-quality, paid, seasonal employment and educational
opportunities to youth. The program is designed to provide young people
experience in a variety of conservation and agriculturally-based activities
and inspire them to become life-long stewards of their local communities. The
Trustees statewide program includes: The Charles River Youth Conservation
Corps, the City Harvest Program in Greater Boston, the South Coast Youth
Corps that serves youth in Greater Fall River and Greater New Bedford, the
Cape Ann youth Conservation Corps in Gloucester, and The Holyoke Youth
Conservation Corps.
About SEEAL: SEEAL
(Southeastern Environmental Education Alliance) is a coalition of 22 leading
Southeastern Massachusetts’ environmental non-profits, public agencies,
schools, and universities. Founded in 1997, SEEAL’s mission is to support its
members’ capacity to improve environmental awareness and stewardship in our
region. To accomplish this, we work together
to identify and coordinate effective, collaborative projects and events that
exceed the individual capacity of any single group—to leverage the full scope
of expertise, resources, and wisdom of the Alliance. SEEAL operates under the
fiscal sponsorship of The Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts. SEEAL piloted a Conservation Corps,
in the summer of 2011, which supported 12 youth Crew Members, ages 16-19, two
Crew Leaders, and a Coordinator. Over eight weeks, these youth worked with 14
different organizations in eight communities, throughout Southeastern
Massachusetts. They performed a work task at each site. They worked more than
3,323 hours, primarily on habitat restoration and enhancement—including
litter cleanup, storm drain marking, invasive species removal, trail
clearing, fence line clearing and fence construction, boardwalk construction,
crop planting, urban gardening, and vacant lot cleanup. Building upon the success from the
pilot summer, the SEEAL Conservation Corps has joined forces with the
Trustees South Coast Youth Corps, to offer opportunities for a greater number
of youth, as well as work towards offering a school-year program. Dartmouth
Farmer's Market will open its' seventh season on June 1st. EverythingWestport.com Friday, April 20, 2012
On certain Fridays, the Dartmouth
Public Library will present a story hour from 3 to 4 p.m., and local
musicians will be providing a variety of music for audiences of all ages. If
you are a local artist or musician and you would like to share your talent
with our community, please call or click Tony Melli
at 508.636.8047 or email him at: Oliodimelli@comcast.net. Each year, the Dartmouth Farmer's
Market provides the freshest in locally-produced vegetables and fruits, as well
as baked goods, specialty foods, local cheese, crafts by local artisans, and
imported Italian olive oils and aged balsamic vinegars from small family
farms. This year, the market has added two
new farmers - for a total of six farmers bringing their produce, fruits,
vegetables, eggs and poultry to St. Peter's each week. Please join the Dartmouth Farmer's
Market each Friday and make scenic Padanaram a
destination every Friday afternoon during the late spring and summer. Greenwich
Village Booklovers Adventure. EverythingWeatport.com Sunday,
April 22, 2012
Greenwich Village is a rare
neighborhood that boasts among its many attractions eighteen unique and
exciting independent bookstores, all within easy walking distance of each
other. Just a few of the bookstores you can visit include Three Lives and
Company, the quintessential old-fashioned bookstore with a significant
literary reputation; the Strand Bookstore, the world’s largest used
bookstore (18 miles of books); Books of Wonder, New York City's
largest children's bookstore; Partners and Crime, the largest mystery
bookstore in Manhattan; and Bonny Slotnik
Cookbooks, specializing in used, out-of-print and antiquarian cookbooks
from all over the world. To add to the fun, you can join Alan
and Helene Korolenko for a walk through Greenwich
Village. The walk takes you past many literary, cultural and historic sites
in this historic and lively neighborhood along with stops at bookstores. If
you prefer, you can explore this fascinating neighborhood on your own. Total cost per person comes to only
$70.00. This price includes the bus, light refreshments, guide materials,
literary walking tour, and all administrative costs. A $25 deposit,
non-refundable, will reserve a seat.
Cash, check or money order accepted made out to Helene Korolenko and mailed to Helene Korolenko,
565 Sanford Road, Westport, MA 02790. Reservations with full payment or
balance due must be received by May 1, 2012. Please e-mail korolenko8523@charter.net
to assure space is available before sending payment. So don’t miss this great opportunity
to spend June 2, 2012 exploring legendary Greenwich Village and discover one
of the most interesting and exciting neighborhoods in the world. For further
information, e-mail korolenko8523@charter.net or
call 508.673.8523. - - - - - End - - - - - © 2012 Community Events
of Westport All rights reserved. EverythingWestport.com |
