Historical Society president accepts coin gifts to bring to Japan
The Board of Selectmen presented to the President of the Wareham Historical Society, Angela Dunham, challenge coins created for Dunham's upcoming trip to Kushimoto, Japan.
Dunham will be visiting the Japanese town as a goodwill ambassador in November.
The trip will cap a year of festivities that celebrated the 225th anniversary of Wareham’s own Captain John Kendrick making landfall in Kushimoto. Kendrick’s journey occurred nearly 60 years before U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry used gunboat diplomacy to force trade with isolationist Japan in 1853.
After much deliberation, Dunham and the board decided on challenge coins to bring to officials in Kushimoto as gifts.
On one side of the coin is the seal of Wareham: it reads Nepinnae Kekit (meaning "summer home') and a picture of a Wampanoag Indian in a canoe with the town's date of establishment, 1739, at the bottom. The other side of the coin reads "Wareham Historical Commission" around the outer edge with pictures of cranberries and the town seal.
In other news:
The Board of Selectmen approved the acceptance of applications for beverage carts.
"A beverage cart is specific for golf courses and it's allowed to sell between the holes and at the holes... only on the course itself and at the clubhouse," said Selectman Patrick Tropeano. "Everybody does it."
According to Selectman Peter Teitelbaum, if the course crosses public ways, none can cross the public way with containers of alcohol.
Chair Judith Whiteside said the request was made by businesses. It was approved unanimously.