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Tuesday, April 26, 2011
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104-year-old Evelyn Potuchek
receives Boston Post Cane.
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104-year-old Evelyn
Potuchek receives Boston
Post Cane. EverythingWestport.com Saturday,
April 23, 2011
A standing ovation from the crowd jamming
the meeting room left the 104-year-old Potuchek
speechless. "We're glad you could make it,"
select board chair Richard Spirlet said. Lucille Stonis
(pictured left with the black top) was uncertain her grandmother would be
well enough to make the trip to town hall. This longstanding New England
tradition presents a cane, that belongs to the town and not the person who
receives it, to the oldest living resident who may use it for as long as they
live. Pictured above from the left are: Shelley McKinnon, granddaughter; Dorothy
Gifford, daughter; Lucille Stonis, granddaughter;
Ian Simcoe, great granddaughter; and Caroline Simcoe, great, great granddaughter.
On August 2, 1909, Mr. Edwin A.
Grozier, Publisher of the Boston Post, a newspaper
with national inspirations, forwarded to the Board of Selectmen in 700 towns
(no cities included) in New England a gold-headed ebony cane with the request
that it be presented with the compliments of the Boston Post to the oldest
male citizen of the town, to be used by him as long as he lives (or moves
from the town), and at his death handed down to the next oldest citizen of
the town. The cane would belong to the town and not the man who
received it. Many of the original 700 canes
distributed by the Boston Post newspaper in 1905 have been lost or are in
hiding, but Westport's cane is not among them. Potuchek was born on
April 1, 1907. "My grandmother believes in hard
work," granddaughter Lucille Stonis said. "She
was employed early on in the textile mills, and later she and her husband ran
the German Hall in Pawtucket. During the war (WWII) many servicemen and women
from all the branches came by the Hall, and she asked several of them to her
home for some for some good, homemade cooking."
The canes were all made by J.F. Fradley and Co., a New York manufacturer, from ebony
shipped in seven-foot lengths from the Congo in Africa. They were cut to
cane lengths, seasoned for six months, turned on lathes to the right
thickness, coated and polished. They had a 14-carat gold head two
inches long, decorated by hand, and a ferruled tip. The head was
engraved with the inscription, — Presented by the Boston Post to the oldest
citizen of (name of town) — “To Be Transmitted”. +enlarge The Board of Selectmen were to be the
trustees of the cane and keep it always in the hands of the oldest citizen.
Apparently no Connecticut or Vermont towns were included. - Courtesy of The Boston Post Cane. According to former Westport
Selectmen Stewart Kirkaldy, the grandson of the cane
manufacturer (J.F. Fradley), Peter Fradley, lives at Westport Point. No one is quite sure
when the cane was first presented in Westport, but the town has maintained
records of presentations dating back to 1945. Many records were lost in a fire at
the old town hall, and the cane's original paperwork with the names of early
recipients was among them. The Boston Post has long been out of
business, but of the original 700 distributed canes, 331 (as of 2011) are still accounted
for and continue the 106-year-old tradition. Times changed and in 1930, after
considerable controversy, eligibility for the cane was opened to women. And
just as well as the last three Westport recipients
have been women. Leopoldine Eberl 103, was presented the
well-worn cane on September 5, 2005, and Evelyn Goddard, 102, on November 20,
2006. For more information please visit: http://web.maynard.ma.us/bostonpostcane/
EverythingWestport.com Tuesday, April 26, 2011
The recently elected selectmen, adjusting
to their new roles, were a little rough around the procedural edges, but were
expertly guided in this area by seasoned selectman and former chairman Steve
Ouellette. From the left: Antone
Vieira, Steven Ouellette, Chairman Richard Spirlet, Vice-Chairman
Craig Dutra, and Clerk James Coyne. Main Road historical house. The Dorothy Curtis house again took
center stage as the Westport Historical Commission and Westport Point
residents expressed their frustrations with the lack of progress. WHC
chairwoman Sharon Connors said she will not seek reappointment to the
commission. The town's building inspector, Ralph
Souza, as well as the Selectmen have little control over compelling the current
owner to rebuild the structure. If, however, work on the structure continues the
exterior must abide by Westport Historical Commission guidelines. Previous court action has addressed
safety issues, and the owner, Joe Furtado, must
keep the property secured to protect personal safety. We can't hold the Furtado
house to a higher standard," Selectman Chairman Richard Spirlet said. After the meeting, Souza stated that
the building inspector can't force an owner to rebuild a structure once a
building permit is issued. "If an owner has unsafe conditions, we can
require the conditions corrected. If uncorrected, the town can condemn the
structure, secure it, and place a lien on the property to cover the expenses incurred by the town." Owner Joe Furtado
says he plans to have the house framed by the end of the summer. Highway Surveyor Harold "Jack" Sisson
receives award. James Morris Post #145 Commander Lino Rego presented a plaque to Highway Surveyor Jack Sisson stating
in part that "over the years the Highway Department has assisted the post
while representing the Town of Westport. For the upcoming May 7th monument
dedication to the original charter members we needed some work done to the
outside of our building on Sanford Road to make it look presentable to the invited
guests. For their work we wish to present this Certificate of Appreciation." Rego also presented the Board of Selectmen with a Certificate
of Appreciation stating "we wish to recognize Town of Westport for its cooperation
with the American legion as well as James Morris Post #145." "Before there was a Veterans'
Agent, the American Legion petitioned the town in 1916 for funds to hold the
Memorial Day parade," Rego said "In 1919 when our post was
finally Charted, the town's cooperation grew immeasurably. Over the years the
James Morris Post #145 has had a perpetual lease on the one-room schoolhouse
on Sanford Road (c. 1834)." "The post members have done many
renovations and to this day we continue to partner with the Community
Preservation Committee to return the building back to what it looked like in
1834," Rego said.
Wild and Scenic River Designation in jeopardy. In a stunning setback, Selectmen
voted 3 to 2 to send a letter to U.S. Representative Barney Frank suspending for
one year all effort in attaining federal monies for a study possibly leading to “wild and
scenic” federal status for the Westport River. "We want
Westport voters to have their say before pursuing a 'wild and scenic'
designation," Selectman Chair Richard Spirlet
said Monday night. "This will be on the town ballot next April." Tagged as a "foolish"
move, Selectman Craig Dutra strongly voiced his opposition. Those opposing said
the wrong message would be sent to congressman Frank that the town of
Westport wasn't serious in pursing the designation, and the town would lose its
position in the queue for funding the survey. Dutra, heated at
times, pointed out that action on the federal status would be slow anyway due
to a flagging economy and lack of federal funds due to budget cutbacks. "We want
voter support to move forward on a “wild and scenic” federal status," Spirlet said. Sparks flew
between selectmen and town residents who either supported or opposed the
measure. Many supporters of the designation made impassioned pleas to reconsider
the motion. The town's
Conservation Committee has opposed the designation in the past until they are
assured that the designation wouldn’t limit uses of the river.
Town residents
Bill Burns and Claude Ledoux vigorously disagreed,
pointing to the Taunton River's designation and the issues with local
businesses on the waterfront.
Watershed Westport
River Watershed Alliance Director Gay Gillespie reiterated that a more
organized management is needed for the river and that a local committee of
"stakeholders" could shape details of the designation, such as what
are protected resources. "We have
too many agencies now imposing controls on the Westport River," Ledoux said. "Let the town's voters have their
say." Selectman James
Coyne, who ran on a platform opposing the designation, said proponents of
"wild and scenic" shouldn't be surprised as voters spoke "loud
on clear" when electing him to the Board of Selectmen." Town counsel to review CPA Anti-Aid
Amendment. A review of the Anti-Aid Amendment in
the Community Preservation Act was recommended with town counsel by Selectman
Antone Vieira as town counsel would do so gratis.
The discussion broke down into an argument between Vieira, the town administrator
and several residents in attendance that centered around the recent acquisition
of the historic Cadman/White/Handy house by the Westport Historical Society
with CPC-approved funding. Town counsel
had given their blessing according to the town administrator. The question posed by Selectman Antone Vieira was interpreted by the town administrator
as referring to Cadman/White/Handy purchase and the application of the anti-aid
amendment against that transaction. While the Community Preservation Act promotes
the use of CPC funds for historical preservation projects on privately-owned
property, there does appear to be a question whether CPC funds can be used
for the purchase of property for a
third party. The key concept to understand is that
public funds are prohibited from being used for private purposes. Any expenditure of public funds must be
used to advance a public purpose. As the Department of Revenue points out in
a February 2007 letter to the Town of The Cadman/White/Handy house, which
already had a preservation restriction administered by the Westport
Historical Commission, was purchased with CPC monies for the exclusive use by
the Westport Historical Society, a private organization. That organization,
however, does have plans to open parts of the house for public access. CPC funds cannot be used to purchase
private property to enrich the town; e.g., any property acquired by the town with
CPA monies can subsequently be sold with a preservation restriction, but the sale
monies have to be returned to the CPC fund. So, there is little doubt that CPC
funds can be used to restore a privately-owned historic asset, or a
town-owned asset. In question is whether the monies can be used to purchase a
property for a private third party which may then apply for CPC funds to
preserve it. The Westport Historical Society is a
private, non-profit entity, but indirectly serves the public purpose by
preserving the town's history and historical artifacts. In other business... Mark E. Roy was unanimously appointed
by Selectmen to "seasonal cemetery worker." A request to allow East Beach
trailers to begin entering sites on April 30th, was approved, granting those
residents an extra moving day. A letter was received from Timothy Harrenstein giving notification of his intent to resign
his position as a member of the
Westport School Committee. A letter was also received from WHC
chairwoman Sharon Connors stating she will not seek reappointment to the
commission. Holiday Lanes on State Road received unanimous
approval to amend their entertainment license to have live entertainment on Friday
and Saturday night, provided they put on police details as the Oriental Pearl
is required to do. A request by the Building Department
and Board of Health members for an increase in gas mileage reimbursement from
.36 cents to the IRS recommended .51 cents was turned down because other town
boards and employees would continue to work on the old rate. Much discussion ensued on the status
of town hall floor replacement because asbestos is in issue in the asphalt
tiles and precautions would have to be taken to protect workers. It was unanimously approved to put
requests for town acceptance of Morning Dove Drive
and two other roads on the upcoming town meeting's warrant. A request was received from the
Westport River Watershed Alliance informing the Board of its annual field
studies for the Westport Elementary and Middle Schools. Andrew Sousa was appointed as representative
and Sarah Raposa as alternate to the Joint
Transportation Planning Group.. - - - - - End - - - - - ©
2011 Community Events of Westport
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