Westport in Brief!
EverythingWestport.com
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Quick Article Index . . .
684 voters carry sway at Town
Meeting.
Al Lees gift supports Tiverton's new library's Local
History Room.
Your Theatre To Produce Jazzfest
Event.
Country Travelers sponsors monthly bus trips and
more.
Fall River Salvation Army 5K Road Race this Saturday, May
19th.
Westport artist in exhibition at New Bedford Whaling
Museum.
Thelma Sullivan of Westport Named
as an Unsung Heroine.
|
684 voters carry sway at Town
Meeting. EverythingWestport.com Tuesday, May 15, 2012 Photos/EverythingWestport.com
Inset: Town Administrator Jack Healey takes a question
through the Moderator at Westport's annual Town Meeting. Town Administrator Jack Healey in
last night's select board meeting laid out the cost to Westport property
owners of the four override articles, and how they will impact Westport's tax
rate if all four articles pass the test at the ballot box. "We need to move out of the last
century," Healey said of Article 9, a debt exclusion to upgrade the
town's data processing functions. Data Processing ballot question. Data Processing requirements: $38,000
for a Phone System Upgrade. This upgrade includes several town buildings
including the Police, Annex, Library and COA. It will put the town
departments on a common phone system and will provide business class services
such as voice mail, conferencing, and caller ID. According to Healey, the town will
lower its monthly phone bill by using an existing PRI shared digital phone
line, and removing individual and costly phone lines to each desk. The upgrade will provide a payback
(ROI) in about five years, while immediately improving phone services. Other costs included in Article 9
are: $9,200 for server software and upgrade of backup systems including both
hardware and software; $13,000 for Server hardware; and $77,000 for desktop
computers with application software. The town's computers are several
generations behind, and are running Windows XP and MS Office 95. Upgrades and
support for the older hardware and software are non-existent. Town employees
are increasingly unable to communicate with outside people running up-to-date software and hardware. $35,000 is also needed to replace
high volume laser printers which are failing at an alarming rate, according
to the Town Administrator, and are "producing higher repair costs." "Passage of the debt exclusion
ballot question would only add 2 1/2 cents per thousand to the tax rate, and
would end within three years," Healey said. The following tax rate increase calculations are based on the town of Westport's median home value
of $431,300.00:
$10.78 for debt exclusion article is only for three
years. Al Lees gift supports Tiverton's
new library's Local History Room. EverythingWestport.com Tuesday, May 15, 2012 Submitted photo. The Tiverton Library Foundation announces
a major donation from Al Lees, which he calls "a gift to the people of
Tiverton", to support the Local History Room in the new Library. Mr.
Lees is also serving on the Advisory Committee for the History Room's digital
projects. Below: Al and Cindy Lees with Tiverton Librarian
Prudence Fallon at Fort Barton Historical Site. Besides being a local history buff,
Mr. Lees is owner of Lees Market in Westport, MA which his father started as a
general store in 1949. The “Stroll Down Memory Lane” section of the Lees
Market website includes historic postcards of Tiverton and other locales.
Returning to school a few years ago, he earned his Master's Degree in Public
Humanities and Cultural Heritage at Brown, and co-authored the Public
Humanities Toolbox 2.0. As a Board member of Westport Historical Society, he
is involved in the restoration of the 1710 Handy House. Tiverton Reference Librarian Prudence
Fallon expressed gratitude for this significant gift, saying she is eager to
work on the new history projects. One of them will use 21st century
technology to create Digital Collections of documents, photographs, genealogy
data and the "historic memories" of current residents that illustrate
Tiverton's rich heritage. These Digital Collections will be available in the
library and accessible worldwide online. Lee Hoyer, Library Trustee and Chair
of the Building Committee, said "with this very generous contribution, a
total of $3,460,000 has been raised from grants, pledges and donations. This
is over 75% of the fundraising goal from non-public sources. The funding from
all sources has reached 90% of the total goal, bringing the project closer to
the start of construction." Mr. Hoyer added, "The Local History
Room is a vital part of the new library that Tiverton needs to serve its
15,800 residents. Located at Bliss Four Corners, the new energy efficient,
cost efficient and sustainable building will be 23,100 sq. ft. It will retire
the 2800 sq. ft. Essex Library, which was built in 1938 when Tiverton’s
population was 3,500."
Your Theatre To Produce Jazzfest Event. An event to look forward to this
spring is the first-ever JazzFest May 18 at Custom
House Square. Gates at the Custom House Square will
open at 5 p.m., and the program will end at 11:00 p.m. EverythingWestport.com Friday, May 18, 2012
Headlining the event will be Gerry
Gibbs and the Electric Thrasher Orchestra featuring Nicholas Payton and Dave Liebman. Whaling City Sound recording artist Gerry Gibbs
has been playing Miles Davis’ music for over 20 years and recorded his own
tribute to the legendary CD Bitches Brew entitled Gerry Gibbs and the
Electric Thrasher Orchestra Play Miles Davis 1967-1975 in 2010. Nicholas Payton, a New Orleans
native, was a musical prodigy who sat in with local bands at age nine. He
plays nine instruments and won a 1977 Grammy for his collaboration with Doc
Cheatham. Saxophonist Dave Liebman,
recipient of the National Endowment of the Arts Master of Jazz Award in 2011,
became a member of Miles Davis’ group from 1970 through 1974. He followed
that gig with a world tour with pianist Chick Corea
in 1977. Opening the evening will be the
swinging big band sounds of the Southcoast Jazz
Orchestra. Founded in 2009 by trumpeter Bob Williamson, proprietor of
Dartmouth’s Symphony Shop, and drummer Neil Sylvia, the SJO is a traditional
jazz ensemble that can trace its roots back to 1930’s and the Swing Era. According to Eric Paradis,
the event’s chairman and a member of Your Theatre, Inc.’s Board of Directors,
“Patrons will enjoy a Friday evening of four to five hours of solid
entertainment.” Adjacent to the main stage tent will
be smaller ones housing local food and beverage vendors. In addition, after
the performances several local nightlife spots will offer live jazz with no
cover charge as a continuation of the JazzFest
celebration until 1:30 am. “It will keep the evening’s vibrancy
alive and downtown New Bedford buzzing. Anyone seeking additional information,
can ‘Like’ us on Facebook: New Bedford JazzFest,” Mr. Paradis adds. Tickets are available at branches of
the Bridgewater Credit Union, the Symphony Shop, 94 State Road, North
Dartmouth, Pier 37, Union Street, New Bedford, and Your Theatre’s box office,
508-993-0772, or at Custom House Square the evening of the festival.
Preferred seating is $30.00, general admission standing room tickets are
$20.00, and student tickets are $10.00. Tickets at the door are $5.00 extra.
Please call YTI for info on Gold Seating and sponsorships . Located in the auditorium complex at St. Martin’s
Church, 136 Rivet St., Your Theatre, Inc. was founded in 1946 by the late
Mary A. Smith and is incorporated as a non-profit community theatre. The
award-winning company, which has a web site at www.yourtheatre.org, enhances
the cultural life of New Bedford, Southeastern Massachusetts, and nearby
communities through the study and regular presentation of dramatic
productions and other programs of high quality and professional standards. Country Travelers sponsors monthly bus trips and more. EverythingWestport.com Friday, May 18, 2012 Join Country Travelers on their monthly
bus trips from $18.00 per person (includes
driver gratuity). Receive a $20.00 package from
Foxwoods upon arrival. Need not be a Upcoming specials: Foxwoods Special
on October 24th. Country Travelers
leaving from Our Lady of Grace parking lot to enjoy an Twin Rivers - May 27th,
August 12th and October 14th. $15.00 per person, includes driver
gratuity. Receive a $7.00 food credit
and $10.00 in Free Play Bonus.
Reservations needed. July 27th: Hairspray
-
Broadway’s Big Fat Musical Hit at each…great seats. New York City - October 20th. One day trip,
plan ahead. $45.00 per person. Shop, take in a play or just enjoy the
city. Make reservations early. Bus fills quickly. For more information on any
of the above feel free to call Veronica Beaulieu at 508.636.4889. Fall River
Salvation Army 5K Road Race this Saturday, May 19th. EverythingWestport.com Friday, May 18, 2012 The second Fall River Salvation Army 5K Road
Race, sponsored by the New England Gas Co., is scheduled for this
Saturday, starting at 10 a.m. at the intersection of Airport Road and
Commerce Way. The
USATF-certified course will follow Airport Road to Riggenbach
Road, to Wilson Road, to Sykes Road and back to the Comfort Inn. There will
be mile markers, water stations and post-race refreshments and awards.
T-shirts will be given to the first 200 entrants. Prize money will
be awarded to the first-place male and female ($100), second-place male and
female ($75), and the third-place male and female ($50). Awards will go to
the top male and female in the following categories: Junior (18 and younger),
Open (19-29), Submaster (30-39), Master (40-49),
Grandmaster (50-59), Senior (60-69) and Veteran (70 and older). Mail entries
cost $20 if received by May 17. The race day entry fee is $25. To register
online ($21), visit www.active.com. For more
information, email Jo Ann Bentley at jbentleyarchitect@verizon.net, or
call her at 508.491.6904, or call Major Butch Deming at the Salvation Army at
508.679.7900.
Westport artist
in exhibition at New Bedford Whaling Museum. EverythingWestport.com Friday, May 18, 2012
From her studio
in Westport Point, Massachusetts, Millikin has
studied the New Bedford waterfront for years, inspired by its busy harbor and
the fishing industry. The exhibition explores volume, shape, light, color,
and texture, reflecting the artist’s interest in the everyday and the
ordinary, the gritty and the ‘real’ – while at the same time revealing the
material properties of the paint itself and the luminosity it creates in
juxtaposition. Inset: "Wharfage," oil on linen, 2011, is in an exhibition
of new works by Dora Atwater Millikin opening May
18th. Dora Atwater Millikin grew up in Little Compton, Rhode Island. She was
educated at the Stoneleigh-Burnham School, Greenfield, Massachusetts, Newcomb
College (Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana), and Lyme Academy
College of Fine Arts, Old Lyme, Connecticut. She has served as vice president
of the board of directors of both The Art League of Rhode Island and South
Coast Artists, Inc., and she is an elected artist member of the Copley
Society. Recognition of
her work includes the Edwin Gould Foundation Award, the John Stobart Fellowship Award, the Joseph Hartley Memorial
Award for Oil, and the Fidelity Investments annual juried competition at the
Providence Art Club. An artist member
and painting teacher at the Providence Art Club, Dora’s work is represented
by Walker-Cunningham Fine Art,
Boston. Her work can be found in museum, corporate and private collections in
the United State and Europe. The daughter of a swordfisherman
from Sakonnet Point, Atwater Milliken describes herself as a contemporary New
England coastal painter. The exhibition
runs through October 18, 2012. For
more information please visit the New Bedford Whaling Museum's website. Thelma Sullivan of
Westport Named as an Unsung
Heroine. Massachusetts
Commission on the Status of Women announced unsung heroine of 2012. EverythingWestport.com Saturday,
May 19, 2012
Senator Michael J. Rodrigues
nominated Mrs. Sullivan for this recognition because of her reputation,
integrity, dedication and service to the community. Mrs. Sullivan was honored
with the other Unsung Heroines for her outstanding contributions to her
community in a ceremony today in the Great Hall of the State House. Mrs. Thelma Sullivan, Westport, MA,
married to William Sullivan, together raised a family of three daughters.
Thelma is very active women in the Westport community where she serves on
several organizations, all while staying very involved with her six
grandchildren, and four great grandsons. She is an active member of the Board
of Directors for the Westport Business to Business, the Westport Lions Club,
and the Friends of Westport Council of Aging, where she also served as
Treasurer. She is a volunteer at the Westport Council of Aging, and a Town
meeting and poll worker. “All her life, she has been a woman
who gives her all to anything she does,” Said Senator Michael J. Rodrigues. “My life, and my family's,
as well as those of the Westport community have truly been enriched by
knowing her.” The Unsung Heroines are women who use
their time, talent and enthusiasm to enrich the lives of others and make a
difference in their neighborhoods, cities and towns. They are mentors,
volunteers and innovators who do what needs to be done without expectations
of recognition or gratitude. These women are the glue that keeps a community
together and every community is better because of their contribution. The Massachusetts Commission on the
Status of Women is an independent state agency that was legislatively created
in 1998 to advance women of the Commonwealth to full equality in all areas of
life and to promote their rights and opportunities. The Massachusetts
Commission on the Status of Women provides a permanent, effective voice for
the women of Massachusetts. - - - - - End - - - - - ©
2012 Community Events of Westport
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